The head of Urgence Homophobie, a gay association in France has been beaten up in Paris in what the victim, Guillaume Mélanie, said was a homophobic attack. His nose was broken when he was leaving a restaurant near the Etienne Marcel metro station of the French capital. According to media reports there have been several other homophobic attacks in the city recently. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo expressed her support in a Tweet to Mr Mélanie, saying "this series of homophobic acts calls for a collective outburst".