Woman says gay couple will ‘burn in hell’ and tells her kids to insult them
Simon Jenkins and Ben Drawer were attacked for holding hands. (Ben Drawer/ Facebook)
A woman allegedly attacked a gay couple in the West Midlands on May 31 for holding hands and told them they would “burn in hell.”
The woman, who has not been identified, attacked Simon Jenkins and Ben Drawer while they were walking home from work in an incident which police are treating as a hate crime.
She allegedly used a homophobic slur while walking with her two young children, and when the couple questioned her she started shouting abuse and hitting them.
University lecturer Jenkins told BirminghamLive: “I challenged her and asked her to repeat what she said, expecting her to deny it or just carry on walking and ignore us. Instead, she turned around and screamed at us – she told us we were disgusting and we were going to burn in hell.
“She called us dirty b*******, shouted sexually explicit things at us and made more homophobic remarks. She shouted that ‘some people think this is OK, but I don’t,’ and threatened to ‘knock us across the street.'”
Jenkins claimed he tried to film the woman, but she knocked his phone out of his hand, then took off her shoe and started hitting them with it. He said she then picked up a wooden plank, after which the couple ran.
Woman encouraged young daughter to shout abuse
“When she picked up a wooden plank and looked as though she was going to hit us with it, we ran. No one stopped to intervene or get involved in any way, despite the presence of numerous bystanders and people driving by,” he continued.
“But the worst part of the incident was that she had two young girls with her – the eldest was aged around 10 and the youngest was around five or six. The older girl was even encouraged to join in with the homophobic abuse.”
The attacker allegedly told her children to join in. (Simon Jenkins/ Facebook)
Jenkins said the attack has put him off holding hands with his partner in public. He said: “Every time I leave home with my partner I feel like i’m going into battle.”
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman told BirminghamLive: “Police are investigating after two men were threatened by a woman as they were walking on a canal bridge on Bristol Road in Selly Oak on May 31, at around 7.40pm.
“The incident has been recorded as a hate crime and a number of lines of enquiry are being followed.”
In the last four years the number of reported LGBT+ hate crimes has more than doubled in England and Wales.
