An openly gay radio host was a victim of a homophobic attack in Denmark on Sunday (20 January).

Marcel Juul Østergreen, 38, was attacked after a night out with a friend in central Copenhagen.

Speaking to ekstrabladet.dk, the PopFM DJ said he had seen a guy alone in his car who was speaking on the phone.

After Østergreen’s friend asked him how he was, the man ‘flew out of the car’ and yelled ‘Now!’.

‘Then it just went quickly,’ Østergreen said. ‘Suddenly there were about 10 young guys around us.

‘My friend was on the ground and tried to protect his face while they kicked and beat him.

‘And then they came at me, and I got one blow after another.’

Once the group relented, Østergreen yelled at his friend to run and they ran into a nearby Burger King where a shocked cashier hid them in the basement and called the police.

Østergreen said: ‘When I looked at myself in the mirror, I understood why the clerk had reacted so promptly. Blood was flowing out of my head.’

Police filed a report, and took Østergreen’s jacket away for DNA samples.

‘It’s good I’m a radio host and not a TV host,’ Østergreen joked. ‘Or it would have been expensive makeup for today.’

On Facebook, he said: ‘So I’ve experienced being a victim of a hate crime. A buddy and I were punched and kicked several times in the face, I’ve got a broken tooth, split lip just because we came out of a bar for gays.’

He added: 'I am appalled and feel deep compassion for the unenlightened wretches! My buddy is fortunately ok…’