A gay couple in Australia were attacked so severely Sunday night that one of the men was left with a broken arm.

Kurt Johnson and husband Adrian Kalaiziovski were getting out of an Uber in the Sydney suburbs when a stranger began taunting them with homophobic slurs. “This man verbally assaulted myself and my friends as we exited an Uber in Redfern,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “He called us faggots for a good five minutes and continued to taunt us and antagonize us."

At first the assault remained verbal, but Johnson says as soon as onlookers dispersed, the suspect followed them down the street. "This ‘hero’ came around the corner looking to start a fight by asking ‘one of you faggots got a lighter?’" He then attacked Kalaiziovski, who was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he underwent surgery and had pins inserted to stabilize his arm.

Authorities are investigating the incident, "including a possible motivation of homophobic bias,” according to a NSW Police spokeswoman.

Just months after Australia passed marriage equality—and weeks after Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras—Johnson says the hateful attack has left him "at a loss for words.” But he insists the support the couple have received since Sunday "is a million times stronger than anything a cowardly homophobe could make us feel.”