Four teens were arrested Friday for what police are calling a homophobic attack of a lesbian couple.
Melania Geymonat and her girlfriend Chris were left bruised and bloodied in a photo posted on Facebook after the incident.
Geymonat said on May 30 the couple got on the night bus during a date night, when a group of men noticed them and began demanding that the couple kiss so they could watch and were describing sexual positions.
“I don’t remember the whole episode, but the word “scissors” stuck in my mind,” Geymonat wrote.
Geymonat began making jokes thinking it might deter the men away, but they then began throwing coins at them. Next thing she knew, Chris was in the middle of the bus fighting with them.
“On an impulse, I went over there only to find her face bleeding and three of them beating her up. The next thing I know is I’m being punched,” she posted, saying that she was “bleeding all over.”
The men also allegedly robbed them before the bus stopped and they fled.
Both women were taken to the hospital with facial injuries and were later discharged.
“What upsets me the most is that VIOLENCE HAS BECOME A COMMON THING, that sometimes it’s necessary to see a woman bleeding after having been punched to feel some kind of impact,” Geymonat wrote. “I’m tired of being taken as a SEXUAL OBJECT, of finding out that these situations are usual, of gay friends who were beaten up JUST BECAUSE. We have to endure verbal harassment AND CHAUVINIST, MISOGYNISTIC AND HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE because when you stand up for yourself s*** like this happens.”
Police said the alleged attackers between ages 15-18 were arrested on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm, which they classify as a hate crime.
“This was a disgusting attack on two women who appear to have been picked out and targeted by a group of youths,” Detective Superintendent Andy Cox said.
Dox said footage from the attack is being reviewed by detectives, and they continue to appeal for information from the public in search of witnesses.
“A number of active enquires are in hand to trace other individuals suspected to have been involved in the incident. Lots of people will understandably be outraged by this attack. Our efforts to trace all the suspects involved and bring them in for questioning will be relentless.”
Geymonat, who hasn’t been able to return to work, closed the post saying: “I just hope that in June, Pride Month, stuff like this can be spoken out loudly so they STOP HAPPENING!”
