Boyfriends were apparently subjected to 30 minutes of homophobic abuse from a stranger on the streets of Glasgow on Burns Night.
Drew and his boyfriend were subjected to a horrifying homophobic ordeal on Burns night as they held hands in Glasgow, Scotland.
Lawyer Drew McCusker, 29, took to Twitter to explain that he and his boyfriend were subjected to a “really sh*t homophobic incident in Glasgow’s southside” which included them being called “bent bastards” and “f**king poofs”.
His tweet went viral within hours of his report.
According to Drew, he and his partner were holding hands when he alleges that a man walking passed them called them “a pair of bent bastards”.
When challenged, the man repeated what he had said, which is when a call was made to the police.
According to Drew, he spent 26 minutes on the phone with police as the man, he said, called the couple “bent bastards” “bent c*nts” “fucking poofs” “pair of poofs” and stating that it was “not fucking right two men sleeping together”
30 minutes of hate
The man’s outrage continued to spew for 30 minutes, apparently telling passersby what he thought of the two boyfriends. An experience Drew has called ” hugely upsetting” and “humiliating”.
When the police arrived, the man was arrested and both Drew and his boyfriend gave separate statements.
The entire ordeal left Drew crying and deeply upset.
He said, “I don’t know if it was arrogance or hubris that made me think I wouldn’t be the victim of such an incident, or that it would upset me as much as it has.
“I’m still hurt by the demeaning language he hurled at us. He looked at, talked to and treated me like I was shit on a shoe. It felt awful.
“Today I feel confused about how to feel”
Hate Crime is on the rise in Scotland.
In 2018 to 2019 hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose by five per cent according to a report on Hate Crime In Scotland. There were 1,176 charges reported in 2018-19. The numbers of crimes reported and charged have risen year on year since 2010, except in 2014/15.
Charges brought on crimes against transgender people actually dropped to 40 (2018/19) from 52 reports in the previous period (2017/2018).
Arrested and charged
According to Police Scotland, a 75-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection to the incident.
They told THEGAYUK.com “Around 6:10 pm on Saturday, 25 January 2020, police received a report of a man being verbally abusive to two men in Queen’s Drive”.
