A London gay couple have said they were subjected to homophobic abuse two nights in a row on public transport in the capital.
Chris Chapman, a councillor in Tower Hamlets, and his boyfriend Jonathan Carter, said they were called abused on a the Jubilee Line for sharing a kiss on the Jubilee Line on Friday.
He said they were subjected to animal noises, and told by a fellow passenger that they should get off the train if they want to make physical contact.
Then Mr Chapman says they were called “disgusting” as they consoled each other after exiting the train at Westferry.
The couple say they were left “shaken and upset” by the incident.
This came one day after the couple say they were abused on a DLR train by two women, which they described as a “torrent of homophobic slurs”.
Of the DLR incident, Mr Chapman told the Evening Standard: “We became aware that two girls were discussing the fact that I had my arm around him.
“One expressed disgust for this whilst the other pointed out that living in London she was used to ‘having to see it’.”
The councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town said he had been left feeling “uncomfortable” and that the incidents had “affected the way he and his partner behave”.
He said when they would normally hold hands walking into a local shop, they “flinched and hesitated before letting go of one another’s hand.”
Both incidents have been reported to the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police by the couple.
The councillor said they were both left in a “state of disbelief” and that they “couldn’t help but say sorry”.
“This is 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,” he adds.
