“This is gay bashing, this is bigotry and it’s unacceptable.”
Matt Loader is the Labor party's candidate running in the South Australian seat of Sturt against innovation minister Christopher Pyne.
On Wednesday he shared an emotional video on Facebook about the time he was bashed just for being gay.
Loader held back tears as he described the night he was assaulted by three drunk men on the streets of Adelaide.
It was 11pm and he was walking home from the pub, along a main road when three young drunk men approach them.
"I was walking home with someone and I was holding his hand and that’s what triggered it," Loader told BuzzFeed News.
The then 24-year-old was so badly hurt he lost two teeth, had to take six weeks off work and has permanently lost feeling in the left half of his face.
"I was so heavily concussed and confused that I didn't realise how hurt I was until I went into the bathroom and saw that I was covered with blood, all over my face, and I collapsed on the floor," he said.
Because of the concussion, Loader wasn't able to identify the perpetrators and they were never caught.
Years on, the assault has left a mark on his life, and was a driving factor in his involvement in the South Australian gay rights movement.
"This is gay bashing, this is bigotry and it's unacceptable," he said.
BuzzFeed News / Via Facebook: matt.loader.3
"What happened to me is an inevitable consequence of a society who haven't given people in same-sex relationships the full citizenship and equality that is their birthright as human beings."
The 40-year-old wasn't sure he'd feel comfortable sharing his story, but changed his mind after the Liberal Party announced it was sticking with its policy for a marriage equality plebiscite.
"There are thousands of young australians experiencing bullying, victimisation and harassment everyday on account of their sexuality. I wanted them to know it's important and they’re not alone," he said.
Loader also wanted to send a message to conservative politicians, saying he believes their anti-equality policy encourages violence.
"Until we change our marriage laws we are still saying that some people and some relationships are less equal than others, thereby giving to some degree a licence to some people with prejudice to act in violent ways - giving a green light to their bigotry."
BuzzFeed News / Via Facebook: matt.loader.3