London: Four Teens Arrested & Charged In Late Night Hate Crime

Melania Geymonat (R) with her girlfriend, Chris after being attacked on a London bus

Police have arrested four teenagers in connection to a brutal homophobic attack on a London bus that left two women bloodied and severely injured.

London's Metropolitan Police report the four teens, ranging in age from 15 to 17, have been charged for committing an aggravated hate crime.

One suspect was also charged with possession of cannabis, and another with theft and handling stolen goods.

I previously reported on the attack which occurred in the late-night hours of May 29.

Melania Geymonat and her girlfriend Chris say they were approached by the four suspects who began taunting them and demanding they kiss. When they refused, the teens reportedly assaulted them.

"We must have kissed or something because these guys came after us," Geymonat said in a Facebook post. "They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us 'lesbians' and describing sexual positions."

The incident soon escalated as Geymonat shared, "The next thing I know is that Chris is 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," she continued. "The next thing I know is, I'm being punched. I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back. I don't remember whether or not I lost consciousness."

Geymonat's nose was broken and had to be reset, and Chris was taken to a hospital where she received treatment for a fractured jaw.

After the attackers fled, the couple asked a witness to photograph them. Posted on Geymonat's Facebook page a few days later, the bloody photo went viral.

Geymonat later told BBC Radio 4's World At One that, while she had experienced verbal attacks in regard to her sexuality prior to the incident, this was the first time she had been physically harmed.

Police Detective Superintendent Andy Cox publicly denounced the "disgusting attack." And London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that "hate crimes against LGBT+ people will not be tolerated in London."

This was a disgusting, misogynistic attack. Hate crimes against the LGBT+ community will not be tolerated in London.

The @metpoliceuk are investigating and appealing for witnesses. If you have any information - call 101. https://t.co/4zSqxyE6IP

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 7, 2019

The four suspects are scheduled to appear in Youth Court on August 21.

In the aftermath of the attack and ensuing press coverage, Chris penned an op-ed for The Guardian in which she noted the disproportionate media coverage versus that of violence on people of color, transgender people and more.

The essay read, in part:

A refrain I've heard ad nauseum is "I can't believe this happened – it's 2019". I disagree. This attack and the ensuing media circus are par for the course in 2019. In both my native United States and here in the United Kingdom, it always has been and still is open season on the bodies of (in no specific order) people of colour, indigenous people, transgender people, disabled people, queer people, poor people, women and migrants.

I have evaded much of the violence and oppression imposed on so many others by our capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal system because of the privileges I enjoy by dint of my race, health, education, and conventional gender presentation. That has nothing to do with the merit of my character.

The press coverage, and timely law enforcement response, was not coincidental to our complexions. Neither was the disproportionate online reaction over the victimisation of a pretty brunette and blonde. The commodification and exploitation of my face came at the expense of other victims whose constant persecution apparently does not warrant similar moral outrage.

Make the extraordinary reaction to our attack the norm. I beg you to amplify and channel this energy to hold accountable the intersecting web of elected politicians, government agencies and corporations who have reinforced a status quo of clearly delineated inequality long before this single attack in 2019.

(source: NBC News, TIME)

Father Cut Off His Gay Son's Earlobe To Mark Him As 'Abomination'

(image via Modou/GSN)

A gay teen from The Gambia says his father sliced off his earlobe to ‘mark’ him as an abomination.

Nineteen-year-old Modou is currently living in The Netherlands seeking asylum having fled his west African home country where being gay is illegal.

Until October 2014, people found to have had consensual same-sex relations were sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2014, the laws were made even more severe upping the punishment to a life prison sentence.

Modou told Gay Star News he was caught in bed with another boy when he was 15-years-old. The boy, out of fear for his own life, told his family Modou had attacked him.

Calling it “the biggest mistake” he ever made, Modou came out to his family thinking, “Maybe my family will accept me because I am their family. This is who I am.”

Instead, his family reported him to the local police in his western Gambia village.

Additionally, Modou says his father took him into a locked room and cut off his earlobe to ‘mark’ him as an abomination.

“It was the most painful thing in my life,” Modou told Gay Star News. “The worst thing is they didn’t take me to the hospital or give me medication. They just locked me inside a room as I tried to stop the bleeding.”

There is a history in The Gambia among certain ethnic groups of marking children, sometimes around the eyes or on the cheek, for the purpose of identification.

However, slicing off an earlobe is a practice used only on pedophiles and LGBTQ people.

Once marked, Modou says he thought he would have to spend his life at home, as a recluse.

“Everyone could see it - I could be beaten to death and I would not be missed,” says the 19-year-old.

The teen fled three years ago to the southern part of The Netherlands where he has an uncle. But Modou says he hasn’t shared his sexuality with his uncle because he is Muslim and being gay is not accepted.

He’s currently receiving legal help in applying for asylum, but lives each day in fear that he will be deported to his native country.

“I just want to finish school and live a free life.”

Photos Of UK Man Beaten Unconscious In Hate Crime Attack Go Viral

Ryan Williams of Preston, Lancashire

A gay man in the UK was knocked unconscious and severely beaten requiring medical attention at a hospital.

Ryan Williams, of Preston, Lancashire, shared his story along with graphic photos of his injuries from the attack on social media.

“I never thought in my life that I would get beaten up for being GAY!,” wrote Williams on his Facebook page. “Wtf has this world actually come too, you’re all vile and disgusting!”

“I want people to understand that being gay isn’t a choice and I can’t help it,” he added. “I’m sorry that you can’t deal with it but hey ho no need to knock someone out because of it!

He closed his post writing, “I seriously can not believe that a homophonic attack happens! Which it does and it’s wrong! Stand strong and love yourself, this isn’t gonna stop me from being fabulous! Being gay is OK!”

Williams told The Mirror he and some friends were headed to McDonalds for a bite to eat after an evening out on July 13.

“There was a group of people nearby in the street and they started calling me and my friends gay,” explained the 22-year-old. “We went over and told them it’s not okay to say things like that.”

But as Williams walked away, he says he was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground. Stunned from the attack, he was then kicked repeatedly in the face until he blacked out.

He was taken to Royal Preston Hospital where he was treated for injuries to his face.

Police told The Mirror they are treating the attack as a hate crime.

Lesbian Couple Violently Beaten For Not Kissing

Melanie Geymonat and her girlfriend Chris

Hideous.

A lesbian couple traveling on a London bus were mocked by a group of four men with calls demanding they kiss. When they didn't kiss, the men became violent.

From the Facebook post of one of the victims, Melania Geymonat:

Last Wednesday, I had a date with Chris. We got on the Night Bus, heading for her place in Camden Town, climbed upstairs and took the front seats.

We must have kissed or something because these guys came after us. I don’t remember if they were already there or if they got on after us. There were at least four of them. They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions. I don’t remember the whole episode, but the word "scissors" stuck in my mind. It was only them and us there.

In an attempt to calm things down, I started making jokes. I thought this might make them go away. Chris even pretended she was sick, but they kept on harassing us, throwing us coins and becoming more enthusiastic about it.

The next thing I know is that Chris is 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. I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back.

I don’t remember whether or not I lost consciousness. Suddenly the bus had stopped, the police were there and I was bleeding all over. Our stuff was stolen as well.

I don’t know yet if my nose is broken, and I haven’t been able to go back to work, but 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.

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 shit like this happens.

By the way, I am thankful to all the women and men in my life that understand that HAVING BALLS MEANS SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I just hope that in June, Pride Month, stuff like this can be spoken out loudly so they STOP HAPPENING!

According to reports, four teenagers have been arrested for the attack.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, tweeted his disgust over the attack.

This was a disgusting, misogynistic attack. Hate crimes against the LGBT+ community will not be tolerated in London.

The @metpoliceuk are investigating and appealing for witnesses. If you have any information - call 101. https://t.co/4zSqxyE6IP

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 7, 2019