Image by Wikipedia

(JTA) — A young gay couple from Britain was assaulted while celebrating Christmas by thugs who picked on them also because one of them was Jewish, a Yorkshire news website reported.

The assault occurred on Dec. 25 outside a pub in the municipality of Thornaby, in North Yorkshire, England, according to an article published last week by the Gazette Live. Jayson Homer, 20, and his 21-year-old partner, who did not want to be named, were attacked and moderately injured outside the Jolly Farmers pub by a gang that harassed Homer’s partner for being Jewish.

The 21-year-old said: “At first a girl in the group started taking the mick out of me for being Jewish. Then another lad from the group came over saying being Jewish was a race. I was disagreeing with him and it was just a little debate really at first.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

But then the girl “started shouting ‘queer’ at me. Every time I went to the toilet someone said it while I was walking past,” he said. Homer and his partner left the pub but were followed by the alleged attackers, who punched them and hit them with bottles outside the establishment.

According to the victims, they were being followed by a group of 15 people. The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, a British watchdog group, characterized the incident in a report posted on Thursday as a case involving victims who were “brutally assaulted by a gang hurling anti-Semitic and homophobic abuse.”

Homer said that the incident has left him “feeling suicidal” and that he has undergone checks for potential brain damage. His partner also requires further checks, while their friend, Marc Vasey, 21, has been told that he has been left with nerve damage to his cheek.

“I was bottled in the face. I couldn’t really see what was happening because they had knocked my glasses off and my eye was filled with blood,” Homer said.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount