UK Couple Speak Out After Enduring a String of Anti-Gay Harassment

A couple from London is speaking out after they endured a string of verbal anti-gay harassment incidents.

Speaking with the Evening Standard, Chris Chapman and his partner Jonathan Carter said they are "shaken and upset" after being verbally attacked last Thursday and Friday.

After kissing on London's Tube Friday, the men said an onlooker called them "disgusting" and told them "people do not want to see that here." The couple said they were told they should get off the subway if they wanted to embrace.

"My boyfriend pointed out that kissing was entirely acceptable and that he should be quiet," Chapman told the newspaper. "[The onlooker] then continued to verbally abuse us before his friend then proceeded to make animal noises at us, drawing the attention of most of the carriage."

When the men got off the train, they comforted each other on the street but suffered similar abuse: A women walking by them allegedly said, "Go and get a room, [that's] disgusting."

The verbal attacks came just a day after the men endured a similar incident.

Chapman told the Evening Standard he and Carter faced a "torrent of homophobic slurs" from two young women while on the subway.

"We became aware that two girls were discussing the fact that I had my arm around him," Chapman said. "One expressed disgust for this whilst the other pointed out that living in London she was used to 'having to see it'."

The men allege the women used more derogatory language towards the couple as they got off the train.

Chapman told the newspaper the abuse has "affected the way he and his partner behave," saying they felt "uncomfortable" holding hands when they walked in their neighborhood.

"As we approached holding hands we heard a group of rowdy men ahead of us," he said. "We both flinched and hesitated before letting go of one another's hand. It dawned on us that the abuse we had suffered has altered the way in which we behave, the way in which two people demonstrate their love for one another.

"Of all the elements of the two nights, this was the one that hurt us the most," Chapman added. "Neither of us were at fault but knowing the other was feeling the same way, we couldn't help but say sorry."

Chapman explained to the Evening Standard that the recent incidents are "not to be interpreted as being apologists for the fact that we are gay, but rather an expression of real sorrow that being gay is still something that elicits such hatred."