Two lesbian parents attacked outside school in front of their child

'Jane Currie and her partner, Anji Dimitriou, both small, soft-spoken women, were waiting with other parents at Gordon B. Attersley public school in Oshawa, when, fists flying, a man attacked them, his blows as harmful as his words.

"Which one of you two 'men' spoke to my kid? F------ dyke. Lesbians," he said, spitting in Dimitriou's face.'



http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/534469

that kind of behavior most likely is normal for him

I'm with Ms. Currie on this one: "Why does he even care?"

when are we to ever feel safe in our communities?

Craftygal

His despicable behavior damaged more than the two moms - think of the message it sent to the kids who might have seen it (to say nothing of the son of the victims). Disgusting.

There ought to be some additional charge for terrorizing the kids.

There are assholes everywhere. Even the mostly mild mannered Canadians seem to have a few. And I hope that they throw the book at this vile asshole who would commit such a hateful crime. He's a real loser.

Why the need to blame everything on our country?

Maybe it's England's fault?

Maybe staring at currency featuring a foreign monarch triggered this?

evil is everywhere where good people are silent.

domestic terrorism.

Unbelievable. I'd like to find and slug that motherfucker. How could you be so callous?

And he hasn't been charged under hate crimes laws. HE SHOULD BE.

Poor women. I hope hate crime charges are pressed.

The area is a suburban residential area on a medium-traffic road in the Northwest part of the middle-class city of Oshawa. The school itself is a realatively new (late 1980s) construction. Likely to be lots of other kids and people watching? Yes.

The school is also a few blocks from a apartment towers complex which has 3500 residents, so its likely that this is a pretty heavy on pedestrian traffic.

what kind of sick fuck is allowed out in public like that?

The bias of the press is as much to blame.

That's what I'm thinking.

please, please. don't be the stereotype.

I would LOVE to see the press give people actual distinction and respect instead of labeling them, ie, two mothers, who are Lesbians, rather than two Lesbians who are mothers. Who is playing the stereotype now? These headlines play into the prejudices and fears of the ignorant, the same people who attacked these women, and they are women and mothers first, not Lesbians first. They are PEOPLE. Why would you take that away from them?

"Man Attacks 2 Lesbian Mothers" = NEWS!

In a good way, the author/newspaper effectively called attention to this as a hate crime by the way they described it. This is good exposure of a bad crime, and the larger point is lost in your criticism. This does not paint lesbians in a negative light--quite the contrary.

And who's to say the victims don't consider themselves lesbians before mothers?

The whole point I'm trying to make is you don't go down the street yelling "Hey Lesbian", that's insulting and hateful, even though you may assume who these two women are. And that's exactly what happened here. Unless of course, you like being disrespected and not called by your name or addressed with respect as a mother or parent. We don't yell out "Hey Asian, or Hey Blackie" because that's disrespectful and biased. And I'm sure you'll come back with "maybe they want to be called that".

I don't think so.

If in the course of conversation you acknowledged they were Lesbians, fine, but why make it the entire point of the conversation? They could have been Black, Chinese, Indian, but first they were women and mothers. Why make them the subject of more prejudice by singling them out for their sexual preference? If they had been Black, should the article read "Blacks attacked at school"? No, it probably would have read women attacked at school. What they did was try to titillate their audience. THAT sells papers, and that's exactly what this paper did, try to get the attention of their non-sympathetic audience by pointing out they were Lesbians first.

So few here seem to get that.

and I'd be okay with it.

and I don't agree that it is...

It's because their lesbianism is the entire reason for their being attacked.

If two men were attacked by a racist, who called them n#ggers, and the article went on to say that the two African Americans were shocked, etc... would you have the same problem?

In short, is calling someone a lesbian, in and of itself, an insult?

"Two Lesbians were attacked" (why were they attacked? read the article, could it have been because they were purple?)

Two women, who are Lesbians, were attacked because they are Lesbians" (ah that explains it)

I have to get ready for work. I stated my opinion, I don't have the time to make it any clearer. I'm sorry you think I'm being disrespectful. but I'm not.

It has nothing to do with respect. The article described the ladies. You would not complain if they were described as two females, or two short people (don't know their height, just an example) or two ladies with short hair, or two Caucasian's or two Asian ladies, etc. The fact that they were lesbian was critical to the article.

The perp did not go around targeting people because they were mothers. He targeted lesbians.

2. It makes the story clear. "Two mothers?" Was this a lesbian couple? Was it two unrelated mothers of two different children? Who knows?

...chances are extremely good the writer of the article did not write the headline. Most of the time writers have no choice at all in a headline.

how sad. :cry:

I wish the best for them and their kids... and for the other lives that horrible man affects. Just so sad.

:cry:

This is WHY we have to educate our children early to love and respect GLBT people.

I have no use for the lot of them. They destroy good people--it's what they do.

When you put a person's civil rights up for a vote, you reduce that person to less than full human status. It doesn't matter if it's Proposition 8, indefinite detention without charge or trial, or torture, or whatever, bigots will see it as permission to act out their hatred.

The Catholic Church and the Mormon Church can go explain to these women why they had to get beat up in front of their kid. If they have the guts, that is.

I thought you guys got rid of all your Freepers and sent them south?

This asshole needs to be beat down. No, it's not my first choice of actions, but it seems to be all he can understand.

I don't have a lot of tolerance for assholes who hit women. Or hit children. Or hit women in front of children. Gay straight or whatever isn't even the issue there, but the homophobia only adds to the picture of what's fucked up in this guy's head.

also, 'lower 48' is a term used by Alaskans to describe the Continental US. The term does not apply in Canada. Just for sake of accuracy, you know?

speech/actions are dealt with in Canada vs. the racist, sexist, homophobic garbage that spews from the U.S. right wing (in prime time!) on a daily basis under the guise of "freedom of speech."

Words hurt as much as punches and leave deeper scars.

The delusional right wing fanatics are going into there paranoia personality at a deeper level with the election of a black Democrat to what they consider their office. I would advise an increased personnel security be taken to heart by all who believe in freedom in this country.

Remember the word liberal is derived from the Latin iberalis, meaning: to make free, to be free, freedom. Something these people are adamantly oppose to.

How scary! This guy had threatened them before. How sad that something as innocent as waiting for your child at school has to be terrifying. Crap.

This is exactly why we need hate crime laws, terrorizing them was his intent.

He just needs to be educated. That's all.

:sarcasm:

kick

those lesbians should have done more. :sarcasm:

to him why it would be wrong to give them a vicious beating.

Then everything would have been different.

like we do here at DU. They need allies!

If they had guns they could have shot him right there. Would have been a good learning experience for the kids too.

OK I just devalued the whole conversation.

So shooting him wouldn't have been warranted.

David

he hasn't the right to marry, farm animals get more consideration for their comfort, and he is subject to hatred, abuse, and assault 24/7.

That'll 'educate' him... a little.

I want to see the face of this "real" man tough-guy.

I swear to god, the news of the past week in California and stories like this make me believe I could actually kill one of these fuckers with my bare hands.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_29028.aspx

6'4, 250+ lbs according to the women who were assaulted.

our stupidity seems to be trickling northward:
"investigate the possibility that the assaults could be classified as hate crimes"
Possibility? WTF

guy gets sued so that he never has dime to his name again. Hateful bastard. I am so angry I could take him on myself.

:(

This happened in Canada.

We know a lesbian couple in Ottawa who have a child, and this could just as easily have happened to them. Unfortunately, the freeper mindset and political cancer is spreading up there, apparently.

I'm just weirded out that this happened in the GTA. Toronto is one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. This is definitely a hate crime and this dick should be incarcerated.

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and the others who were forced to witness this.

The man should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I doubt this is the last of this sort of thing.

Muthafucka (the attacker, not the ladies). Please let this bastard be charged with some kind of hate crime.

Failing that, let me teach these two ladies self-defence with him as a test dummy.

I think they should use the ancient art of 'hollowpoint'.

Well... something at least effective.

The RW Radio Hatemongers encourage this sort of behavior.

Just asking. Since this took place in, you know, Canada.

Armed Forces Radio too. Which is something I hope Obama will take a look at.

Somebody had it on at the office until I filed a sexual harassment claim.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Maybe the guy's son will learn that acting like that is NOT the right way to go after seeing this happen.

Is it a real one? Or something you made?

I found it on...cafepress.com I believe.

affects not only the victims of that language but also unstable members of society that are hate filled.

This is the consequence of years of verbal gay baiting and not the only instance by a long shot.

I feel so bad for these women and their children. Also for the child of the man who attacked the women -- hopefully he will be removed from the home and not have to grow up being taught to hate others just for being who they are.

when other parents would be ready for the idea of two moms. Or better yet, maybe they should have settled for being called "female parental units" instead of mothers... :sarcasm:

This is what we constantly try to explain to people. It's always the same thing over and over and over and over again. People ask us why we won't wait or why we won't settle for separate but equal rights. This is why.

The truth is if we don't overshoot for FULL EQUAL RIGHTS and then some, we might or might not even be able to get our law enforcement to enforce CURRENT laws that are already on the books to protect us. We still only get haphazard, scattered, sometimes enforced, sometimes not enforced protection by the law at best, and only whenever law enforcement feels like it.

It is because the laws regarding our lives are scattered and uneven from one area to the next. In one state we can get married, but in the rest we may not even have protection from hate crimes. In one country we can get married and in others we can get civil unions. Still, in others we can be put to death legally. When you have laws that are uneven and all over the place like that, very few, if any, law enforcement officials see a need to enforce what laws do exist.

THAT is why we want full equal rights now. Our very lives depend on it. I don't hold much hope for any peace from thugs like that whether we continue to fight or not. They hate us either way. They hate us for even existing. That is why we demand equal rights. We need protection.

It crosses countries, continents, races, religions, creeds, national origins, you name it. We are still not looked at as full human beings yet. We are still born to this world to be some thug's punching bag and possible murder or rape victim.

That is truly horrible. I hope they try that uncivilized thug for hate crimes, sentence him to the maximum and throw away the key. :mad:

Seeking FULL equal rights isn't 'overshooting'... it's dead-on and necessary.

Solidarinosc.

Both women now have elevated risk for detached retina, and psychiatric sequelae should also be a concern

Beyond that, there is the issue of unprovoked battery

I hope both can get restraining orders against the mofo

He should get which ever is worse. He also needs sued by both of them
and by the parents of other kids that were traumatized over seeing something
like this. Their poor kids will remember this for a long time to come.

Typically the assailant gets charged with the physical crime, with the hate crime charge applied on top of it.

When I was about 12, a neighborhood girl called my mom a dyke. I hadn't the foggiest idea what the word really meant, I just knew it was not a nice word and the girl was insulting my mother. I beat her up and dragged her to her house. I told her parents that their daughter had a nasty mouth and went home. In the time it took me to walk home, the parents called my mom. When I got to my house, my mother asked me what happened and I told her. Mom said to me, "Do you know what a dyke is?" I said I did not, but that it was not a nice word and that some of the kids on the swim team called the bigger girls dykes and they would get upset, so I knew it was not okay. My mom grounded me for a few days (which is saying something, considering my mom was really, really strict and I expected a harsh punishment). A little while later, when I was sitting in my room, I could hear her talking to her girlfriend, telling her what happened. The burst out into muffled giggles and I think were secretly proud of me. That was a long time ago, and every once in a while, mom and her girlfriend will bring up that story and laugh about it. My mom is happy that she knows she has two daughters who will defend her and her girlfriend til the end, though my sister is a little less nuts about things than I am.

Mind you, I don't condone violence...but I'd like to smack that guy upside his head.

Really - when people go on and on and on about "how awful" same-sex marriage is and how it will destroy the world, stupid ignorant bigots become violent ignorant bigots.

How awful :(

The irony in that statement is that I guarantee he lashed out like that out of fear. That man is the worst kind of coward... the one who takes his own insecurities and fears out on people who can't defend themselves.

And it's especially traumatic for the children who witnessed it. :cry:

Just sickening that there is still this much hate in our country. This should be prosecuted as a hate crime. Put this animal away.

'This so called "man" was arrested without incident and charged with 2 counts of assault causing bodily harm. We were informed that during the time he was in the principal's office waiting for the police that he honestly thought he had done nothing wrong in beating up 2 women. He thought he was going to go home. He did.
He was released from custody last night (@10pm ish). For those of you who know who he is, he's at home, with his kids, his wife, clearly no worse for wear and we sit battered, badly bruised and in my girlfriends case with terrible pain in her back from bouncing off her vehicle. I sit here stupefied and honestly a little scared. Scared for maybe the next woman, women, children and whomever else this so called "man" thinks he can batter because of his own inferior intelligence and or insecurities. I wonder if his wife has walked into any doors in her life with him?
I want to say that this could have happened to anyone but this "man" targeted us "fuckin dyke bitches" (this was the phrase that we heard a few times yesterday) because he thought he could. He thought that he would confront us and we would just tuck our tails between our legs and take it. I'm afraid that he was sadly mistaken. Very mistaken. Not only are we waiting for the criminal trial
but we plan to take this further as a civil matter. So, please don't pretend you don't see violence against women and please don't turn a blind eye ever to hate crimes.
Thank you to every one of the fantastic human beings who helped us yesterday, to everyone that stayed and recorded what they saw, and thank you to the special staff at the school who not only showed care and concern for us and our children but for all the children at school. We will never forget, as long as any and every one affected by this never forgets either. Thank you again. We will continue to inform.'
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=66825305d561674f5353a8df6ceacf0f&refurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fs.php%3Finit%3Dq%26q%3Dgay%2Bwomen%2Bget%2Bbattered%26ref%3Dts%26sid%3D66825305d561674f5353a8df6ceacf0f&gid=38197671178

Just pointing that out.

Seriously, what would two charges of assault and battery get you in Canada?

And this guy HAS to have some priors, right?

just what could they have possibly said to his kid to piss this guy off?

"Hi, how are you?"?

looks like he has been itching to beat someone up for a long time.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_29028.aspx

No idea what the real story is here, but I read that a few minutes ago.

hes pulling out all stops isnt he, to justify his hatred of gay folks. what a liar.

:eyes:

We don't know yet if it can be applied here.

We better ask our ally to be sure.

beating them?

Seriously, gays are their own worst enemies.

:grr:

that attacked them.:wtf:

While I cannot recommend or even approve of something like this, I sure wouldn't cry for someone like this who was intercepted in a dark place and had the living shit beaten out of him.

Of course, that just might bother the women who were brutally attacked but hey, I'm superior to them in my ability to forgive anyone for anything!

n/t

I want his fucking address.

I want to turn him into a fucking pretzel!!!

:mad::nuke::mad:

:argh:

Maybe I'll come back as an enlightened pacifist in my next life.

But right now...

BLOODY HUMILIATION. Jane Currie
bleeds from her face in a photo
taken by her partner moments after
the two say they were attacked by
a man in the parking lot of an
Oshawa elementary school on Nov 3.

Link: http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Brazen_attack_alleged_in_Oshawa-5839.aspx

:mad:

...what the hell is wrong with people!?!?!?!?!?!

Unbelievable....a big man beats up two women cuz the two women love each other!

Huh?

And why is it the Freepers (Canadian AND American, it seems) so delight in attacking the small and weak.

Bet that fucking coward would have stood in silence if some big 300 lb. bear of a gay MAN had spoken to his kid.

Oh, then you wouldn't have been able to pry word one out from behind his glaring, scared eyes.

:grr: :mad: :argh:

Mr. Mark Scott, 43, of Oshawa needs to be prosecuted for every stautory violation they can bring against him. I would support the idea that he become the Canadian poster boy for intolerance. This nonsense has to stop.

For making this kind of behavior fashionable. You reap what you sow. And just yesterday Palin repeated she thought it was fair to charge Obama with palling around with terrorists and had no regrets about saying it. Sarah Palin, you share in the responsibility for this attack. Now lets hear you condemn this cowardly attack on these two women. I' waiting.

He sounds ridiculously unstable & should not be anywhere near children.

I'm sincerely beginning to believe that some opinions, you do not have the right to. I hope he's charged and I hope he pays.

he lacks that mental ability, maybe his children should be put in protective custody. Shameful that humans are taught to hate.

actually motivated by religion? Isn't it religion that has made homosexuality as feared as it is by most people?





Those poor women... those poor children... that violent bigot deserves to be charged with a hate crime. I hope they upgrade the charges.

I personally think homophobia is misogynism.

I think that often myself... I just got a little distracted by my anger. Thanks for reminding me.