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'I'm sick of people doing this': Gay man records abusive rant towards him at Sydney petrol station

A man who was abused by another man at a Sydney petrol station for being gay says his sexuality "should be no one else's business".

Brendan de la Hay posted a video to his Facebook page of the horrific encounter on Wednesday showing a man calling him several different names including "fag" and a "gay c***".

Mr de la Hay says the incident started when he was filling his car up with petrol and the man depicted in the video started hurling abuse from his car at another petrol pump.

The abuse continued when Mr de la Hay went to pay for his petrol and when he came back out of the building, he says.

That's when he started to record the incident.

The man is seen yelling abuse at Mr de la Hay in the video. Source: Facebook / Brendan de la Hay
The man is seen yelling abuse at Mr de la Hay in the video. Source: Facebook / Brendan de la Hay

"Look what's your problem?" the man can be heard asking Mr de la Hay in the video.

"My problem is you called me a fag," he responds.

"I didn't call you a f***ing fag," comes the reply.

"What is it? What did you call me?" Mr de la Hay asks.

"I called you a f***ing gay c***, you're a f***ing fag" the man responds.

"Yeah good, I'm highly aware of that," Mr de la Hay says.

Mr de la Hay said he feels fortunate in a way that it was him that was abused and not someone who wouldn't be able to deal with it.

"I kind of feel slightly desensitised to abuse such as this because I have dealt with it my entire life," he told Yahoo7.

"This incident was particularly aggressive and I'm fortunate that I have such a supportive network around me and someone that can handle it - it's lucky that it wasn't someone who might not have those qualities."

Mr de la Hay said he felt it was an interesting time to capture the incident after same-sex marriage was recently legalised. He wrote on the video "how far have we REALLY come?".

Mr de la Hay is a performer. Source: Facebook
Mr de la Hay is a performer. Source: Facebook

"I had the same thing happen to me just last week at Potts Point and then I thought 'I'm sick of people doing this, I'm going to start filming it whenever it happens'," he said.

"I want to encourage people to also, safely, get videos themselves of abuse, no matter what human you are - no abuse in public is acceptable."

Mr de la Hay, who's an entertainer and designer, says he wears more colourful clothes than most and is proud to do so, unlike some of his friends.

"Men who are more contemporary than other men, or other performing men reach out to me and ask how can I wear what I do?"

"They say they're too scared to do the same in public.

"My close friends are spectacular performers but they hide, they dampen themselves throughout the day."

Mr de la Hay said he doesn't understand why others abuse people for their interests or sexual preference, or if they're disabled.

"It's all the same and none of it is OK," he said.

"I was just filling my car up with petrol - I'm not affecting the person at all and they think they get to have an opinion. Focus on yourself and think about your life , mine doesn't affect you."

The man allegedly called Mr de la Hay a
The man allegedly called Mr de la Hay a

While he is surrounded by "incredible people", Mr de la Hay said he appreciate all the positive feedback but is hoping not to encourage aggressiveness.

"My audience online is particularly positive and supportive but I encourage people to not go on the aggressive, it's not proactive," he said.

"We need to fight against it without going off at someone else or lowering to their level."

Mr de la Hay said people should focus on themselves instead of others. Source: Facebook
Mr de la Hay said people should focus on themselves instead of others. Source: Facebook

Mr de la Hay said the incident is just one example of "what happens when the government gives the entire country to vote on the legislation".

"It's dangerous because it's opened the door to let people think they can vote on anything and have an opinion on anything," he said.

Mr de la Hay said he will keep recording the incidents he experiences and hopes to turn it into an exhibition.