Gay Couple Attacked, Bitten by Rabid Homophobic Gang After Kissing

"Are those two gays kissing?"

That's what Gary Daly, 32, said he heard at a pub early Saturday morning in Sligo, Ireland, before the situation escalated to violence.

The man who shouted the question demanded that Daly and his date, a 20-year-old native of the town, leave the establishment. The pair refused. "We have the same rights as anyone else to be here," Daly told the agitator, as he recounted in an interview with The Irish Sun.

The man left. But he returned with about 8 to 10 men, whom Daly estimated to be in their late teens or early 20s. That's when the situation turned "hostile."

"He caught me a cheap shot head-butt to the side of my face out of the blue, and then they began punching and kicking us," Daly said.

"We tried to defend ourselves. I was able to subdue one of them, but then one of the other guys threw me down a flight of stairs into the beer garden," he added. "They then continued punching and beat us and started using the garden furniture to hit us and threw it at us."

The fight was broken up by another patron, and the gang scattered. However, they soon came back to the bar with a vengeance. One assailant grabbed his date's head and "bounced it off the bar." Another bit Daly's nose, and then said, "I am not into that shit." Daly pointed out how the assault was being recorded on video, but the group was unfazed.

Afterward, Daly had to receive a hepatitis B shot as a result of the bite, which will likely leave scars. His date was treated with antibiotics for his face, which was so badly bruised and cut from the assault that he cannot move his jaw to eat.

Emotionally, the experience has traumatized Daly.

"After the attack I would second-guess kissing another guy in public. It would certainly make me think twice about ever doing it again," he said.

Irish police are investigating the attack.

Ireland legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 after a popular vote on the issue. Over 62 percent cast their ballots in favor of marriage equality.