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Father’s LinkedIn post says 14-year-old was asked ‘are you a boy or a girl’ before being attacked

LinkedIn/Paul Brink

A young girl in Amsterdam was attacked on Monday in what police are looking into as an anti-LGBT hate crime, after a father’s LinkedIn post about the incident went viral.

Paul Brink shared a post detailing the assault on his daughter, Frédérique, whose picture was attached to the post showing a swollen nose and lips, with tears streaming down her face.

“This is my beautiful daughter Frédérique who I am incredibly proud of because she wants to be who she is,” he wrote, according to a rough translation of the post. “Boy or girl, straight, gay or bisexual she (and all of us) don’t care.”

Brink claimed Frédérique was walking down the street when a boy began questioning her about her gender.

“There she was approached by a boy of about 14 years ‘are you a boy or a girl!!’ he shouted at her,” Brink wrote. “‘It doesn’t matter’ my daughter replied kindly. ‘ARE YOU A BOY OR A GIRL!!’ he shouted again at her ‘I am who I am and you may be if you want to be,’ she responded nicely again.”

Brink wrote that the boy then assaulted his daughter, breaking her nose and several teeth, and leaving her with a fractured jaw, among other injuries.

“On behalf of my daughter Frédérique, I appeal to all those who share the same opinion, ‘You can be who you want to be! Come on, coward!'” he concluded the post, which went viral.

Police on Tuesday said they had apprehended a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of involvement in the assault, according to The Associated Press. The police noted they hadn’t ruled out any further arrests.

Tags Amsterdam anti-LGBT Hate crime LGBTQ LinkedIn

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