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A lesbian mother in Mesquite, Texas, was assaulted in what she says was a hate-crime after she tried to intervene on a playground when children were bullying her partner's four-year-old son.
A lesbian mother in Mesquite, Texas, was assaulted in what she says was a hate-crime after she tried to intervene on a playground when children were bullying her partner's four-year-old son.
Sondra Scarber, 27, says she and her partner, Hillary Causey, were watching their four-year-old son at an elementary school playground on February 17, when Scarber says some children began shoving their son, Jaxon. When Scarber stepped in to intervene, though, one of the children's fathers got involved.
"Sondra said, 'Can you please keep your hands off him, he's only four,'" Causey told Dallas-Fort Worth's WFAA.com.
The bully's father was apparently unfazed, until he realized Causey and Scarber were lesbians.
"When he walked up thinking it was father and mom with he kid, he wasn't as angry," said Causey, who is 26. "But then when he figured out it was a female, he got, like, super pissed and I don't know why."
Causey told WFAA that the man began punching and kicking Scarber, hurling homophobic slurs as Scarber lay unconscious on the ground.
"He was like, 'well if you think you're a man… I'm going to treat you like a man," Causey recounted. "All she kept saying was, 'I'm a female. I'm a female…' She never even had time to take her hands out of her pockets to try and block herself."
Scarber suffered a shattered jaw, which required surgery to insert a metal plate, and her long recovery requires her mouth to be wired shut, meaning she cannot eat solid foods or speak clearly.
Police claim they are searching for a suspect, but have no leads. Despite the couple's assertion that the assault was motivated by antigay bias, police are not investigating the incident as a hate-crime, reports WFAA.
"I think it's evil to treat somebody in such a way and get away with it," said Scarber. "I don't think it's OK to put somebody in this much pain because you don't think it's OK for me to raise my son."
Meet the couple below.
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<p>Sunnivie is an award-winning journalist and the managing editor at <em>The Advocate</em>. A proud spouse and puppy-parent, Sunnivie strives to queer up the world of reporting while covering the politics of equality daily.</p>
<p>Sunnivie is an award-winning journalist and the managing editor at <em>The Advocate</em>. A proud spouse and puppy-parent, Sunnivie strives to queer up the world of reporting while covering the politics of equality daily.</p>
