Gay Couple Allegedly Assaulted for Refusing to Kiss on a Bus Speak Out, 5 Teens Arrested for Attack

Melania Geymonat and her girlfriend, Chris, were headed home after their date — grabbing seats on the top deck of a night bus in London.

Moments after sitting down, a group of young men began harassing them when they saw that the two women were a couple, asking them to kiss so that they could watch — even throwing coins at them. When Geymonat and Chris refused, the men proceeded to brutally attack the women, beating them until they were covered in blood, even stealing some of their belongings, Geymonat revealed in a post on Facebook.

“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,” the flight attendant wrote in the post, sharing a photo of her and her girlfriend after the attack, covered in blood with injuries on their faces.

“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,” she added. “We have to endure verbal harassment AND CHAUVINIST, MISOGYNISTIC AND HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE because when you stand up for yourself s— like this happens.”

The Metropolitan Police announced on Friday that four teens (aged between 15 and 18) were arrested in connection with the assault, and another boy, 16, was arrested Saturday, according to The Washington Post.

Prime Minister Theresa May, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and other leading U.K. voices have condemned the attack — with Khan calling it “a disgusting, misogynistic attack”  adding that hate crimes against the LGBTQ community would not be tolerated.

Grammy Award-winning artist Sam Smith sent his support to the couple, sharing their bloodied image on his Instagram account, and reiterated that there is still much to be done in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

“This picture breaks my fucking heart every time I see it. I hope this brings home (especially during pride month) how there is still SO much to fight for!!” he wrote. “To the two girls from this attack, my entire heart and soul goes out to you & to all the survivors of homophobic attacks that are happening daily and hourly around the world right now #loveislove @prideukorg ?️‍?.”

Geymonat and Chris echoed this sentiment in an interview with the BBC, explaining that their experience isn’t a “novel situation” and that they hope people comtinue to “stand up for themselves” in similar situations — that they feel “emoboldened” to fight for their rights.

“I’m not scared of being visibly queer, if anything you should do it more,” Chris (who didn’t provide her last name) told the outlet. “There are a lot of people’s rights at risk and people’s basic safety at risk… I want people to take away that they should stand up for themselves and stand up for each other.”

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