TV presenter Brendan Courtney warns of ‘anti-gay rhetoric’ after being kicked in head in vile attack

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TV presenter Brendan Courtney has warned of a rise in ‘anti-gay rhetoric’ after a ‘horrible’ attack where he was kicked in the head.

The Dublin TV star, 53, said he raised the case to highlight that attacks like this are still happening and described the event as ‘surreal, dangerous and frightening’.

The broadcaster and fashion designer, who was the first openly gay presenter in Ireland, was walking home at around 9pm on Thursday across the bridge at Queens Street when he was attacked ‘just outside’ his apartment.

He said a white car pulled up with three men in it, they said something to him and he replied ‘hello’.

‘Next of all, from behind, the driver and the guy in the back jumped out and kicked me to the ground and punched me and kicked me to the head five or six times.’

Courteney said he was left with blood on his face after being cut on his ear and above his eye, saying he’s ‘all sore’.

He continued: ‘An American girl screamed “what’s going on”, and they got back into the car and drove off.’

Brendan Courtney has revealed his horrific ordeal after being attacked in Dublin (Picture: @brendancourtney)

He said a barman nearby invited him in to sit down and the gardai arrived in two minutes.

Courteney went to an Emergency Department on Friday and got a CT scan as he had a ‘pounding’ headache and feared he had a concussion.

‘I believe they were probably out for the hunt,’ the Wanderlust host told RTE’s Liveline.

‘I think they were just going out to lash someone out of it, that’s for sure.

The Irish star said he’d been punched and kicked on his way home (Picture: Instagram)

‘I think they recognised me and I think that was perfect fodder, that’s my feeling, could be wrong.

‘I could have just been a very obviously gay man with his chips walking across the bridge.

‘There’s definitely a rhetoric rebuilding, I can feel an anti-gay rhetoric for sure, that language is coming back that’s being allowed to be used again.

‘And I don’t know where it’s coming from – well, we do know where it’s coming from – but we try and guard against it and bring education and awareness up.’

He went to A&E on Friday after fearing a concussion (Picture: Instagram)

He added: ‘It’s so important to just remind people that this happens still and to be vigilant first of all and if crime happens to report it.’

In a video posted to his Instagram account, he said: ‘It’s not good enough, we can do better.’

Courteney has previously told a horrific hate crime attack he suffered in Dublin in 2011, when a man punched him in the face and shouted ‘queer’ before running away.

‘It’s absolutely disgraceful that in this day and age some people think it’s still acceptable to behave in this way,’ he said at the time.

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