“When it comes down to it we can have all the progressive laws in the world, but if people aren’t having open conversations and being better in their daily lives – they are for naught. We are fortunate to have learned of this instance because the victim was brave enough to speak up about it, but what of those instances that aren’t reported?”

“At the very minimum, entertainment establishments like this should look into providing their employees with some urgent equality training in order to ensure that attacks like this are no longer a possibility.”

“We must back up our status of being first in Europe for LGBTQ+ rights, with education and action – in order to truly be protecting people within the community from the harm they risk facing for simply existing.”

A woman today said that she was kicked out of Nordic Bar last night for kissing a woman, describing the experience as “horrendous”.

“We shared a kiss, and soon enough one of the bouncers came to our table to kick us out,” she said on the popular Facebook group Are You Being Served.

“As we were unsure why we were being kicked out, we resisted and asked for a reason why, when the bouncer threw us both to the ground, kicking us and putting pressure to be kept down.”

The account caused outrage, with the likes of PL MEP Cyrus Engerer and Allied Rainbows Community coordinator Clayton Mercieca calling for better training of of bar staff.

Times of Malta quoted the bar owner as saying that an internal investigation has been launched into the alleged incident.