A lesbian couple, Misty Turner and Brandy Standifer, and their children, were attending a July 4th fireworks display in Pathfork, Kentucky when they were attacked by a crowd of people, according to Towleroad (via The Lexington Herald-Leader). The couple, their children, and their extended family sat in a church parking lot to watch a fireworks display when people at a party across the street began shooting fireworks at them. The fireworks landed among the women's group, burning Turner's biological son, her 80-year-old grandmother and others.
When Turner told them to stop, all hell broke loose.
"We'll set everyone of the little Mother Fuckers on fire!" one of the men at the party allegedly yelled at them, according to Turner in her complaint sent to Kentucky Equality Federation. Her father then approached the approximately 50 people at the party, but when Turner tried to stop him she was attacked by a woman who threatened to kill her. Turner continues, "...we were attacked by at least 15 men. All yelling 'If you wanna look like a man, then fight like one' We were also called lesbians, whores, 'pussy licking whores' and dykes. No one else in our group was attacked but us. Then a gun was pulled and pointed at us and we were told 'I'll kill your dyke asses'... In the end, no shots were fired but my partner has suffered extensive contusions and at least one rib fracture, she is still undergoing treatment. I suffered from a closed head injury and intrasinus hemorrhage which is being treated now and damage is not yet determined. We were only able to identify 3 of the men involved."
In court, Turner allegedly faced discriminatory questioning from the defendants' attorney, Otis Doan, and the judge did nothing to stop it. Likewise, the defendants' families were allowed to be present during the hearings but Turner and Standifer's families were not. Fearing they wouldn't see justice served, they brought in the Kentucky Equality Federation. On Wednesday the organization's president, Jordan Palmer, requested that the federal government pursue the case as a hate crime.
Turner is a 28-year-old nurse and Standifer is an emergency medial technician. Turner told the Herald-Leader that she and Standifer have lived openly as a couple for three years in the Pathfork community, though in her statement to Kentucky Equality she says they've been together 5 1/2 years. Turner has a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, and shares custody with the children's father.
Read the Kentucky Equality Federation's press release about the incident.
Read about the story in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Read Turner's complaint to Kentucky Equality Federation.
Visit Towleroad, which originally tipped us off to the story.
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