They only tried to defend a woman that was being harassed by a man.
Emmett Doherty and Luke Bromilow were set upon in the early hours of Sunday morning outside a Chinese takeaway after they attempted to help a woman who was being harassed by men. Emmett simply told the man “don’t speak to a woman like that”, and in no time he became the target of the man’s homophobic slurs before getting beaten and left needing the help of doctors.
The attack is being treated as a hate crime, and this is the case!
Speaking to the Derry Journal, Emmett explained that he and his partner had been considering moving back to the city, but “that is obviously not going to happen now”.
He then added: “Luke is absolutely terrified, he wanted to go back early. He won’t leave the house. He is absolutely traumatised. It’s just disgusting. I have a moral obligation to the next generation to speak out about this. I won’t be silenced and I will fight this. We were attacked down that town. It’s 2020, it’s an absolute disgrace. What message does this send to the younger generation? What message to the young 16 year old sitting thinking about coming out? It’s going to push them back; push us back. I feel very strongly I have moral obligation to the next generation of gay people to do this, to pursue this.”
Police has quickly started their investigation and, according to inspector John Moore of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the case is being treated as homophobic hate crime, he also said: “Officers attended the scene where they located two males with injuries to their head and to their face. Officers administered first aid to one of the males. We are making enquiries to establish what occurred and who was involved in this incident, which is being treated as a homophobic hate crime. Anyone who was in the area at the time and saw what occurred, or has information which could assist our investigation, is asked to call police at Strand Road on 101, and quote reference number 227 of 26/07/20.”
TheGaylyMirror wishes the couple a quick recovery, both physical and psychological.
