More needs to be done to stamp out homophobia, the board of the Wellington International Pride Parade says following an attack on a gay man after the event in the capital.
After celebrating diversity in Wellington on Saturday, Joe Perrone says he and his partner were grabbing something to eat at a takeaway shop when their night turned ugly.
He says the incident happened around 4am Sunday and there were five or six people attacking them, mostly women.
"They thought he (Mr Perrone's partner) pushed in line when I said can you leave my boyfriend alone, more people jumped in that’s when they said 'You f-----, you homo, is that your boyfriend?'
"A girl cut my arm, a guy grabbed me by the shoulder and punched me in the face."
"It's not an easy thing to see your partner go through that," Mr Perrone earlier told 1 NEWS.
The man says he and his partner were punched and threatened but the most troubling thing was the response from police. (Source: Other)
In a statement to 1 NEWS today, the board of the Wellington International Pride Parade said it was proud of Mr Perrone for standing up, but they want to ensure the couple was safe.
The WIPP board said it was "deeply distressed" about the reported violence and called on police to "act with urgency and to provide assurance around the events of Saturday night".
"These reported events demonstrate the importance of unity throughout Wellington’s rainbow communities because progress is still to be made. We therefore urge representatives of Wellington’s rainbow communities to work together to continue making progress for our whānau," it said.
"Following investigations, we must continue to work collaboratively to drive culture and behavioural change towards a kinder, more caring and safer place in which our whānau can be themselves.
"We challenge Wellingtonians to call out violence, to call out homophobia and to speak with one voice when we say this behaviour is not acceptable to us.
"Fifty-thousand Wellingtonians showed we can do better on Saturday and we also believe almost all of Wellington’s communities, rainbow or not, will be appalled at what has happened."
Following the attack, Mr Perrone said police refused to escort the couple home, but they had since had an apology from police.
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