A woman allegedly robbed and beaten in a homophobic attack last week on a London bus slammed media companies and politicians for profiting off of the incident in a new op-ed in The Guardian.
“I was weeping bitterly, head ringing in pain as I sat next to my lovely date, Dr Melania Geymonat, who was calmer than I but dripping blood down her shirt front,” the woman, “Chris,” wrote. “We photographed the trail of our blood down the bus, ending at our still-bleeding faces as we awaited the police.”
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Ryanair flight attendant Melania Geymonat, 28, shared the jarring photo of herself and Chris. Geymonat said four men sitting on the top deck of a London bus insisted the two kiss and attacked them and stole a bag on May 30. Both women were hospitalized for their injuries.
Four male teens between the ages of 15 and 18 have been arrested in connection to the incident, according to the BBC.
But Chris also criticized media companies for sharing the photo without her or her girlfriend’s permission. She accused News Corp and Sinclair Broadcast Group of publishing the photo of the LGBT couple despite “[endorsing] racist, misogynist and xenophobic platforms and politicians.”
She also criticized “one world leader” who expressed her condolences to the couple on her last day in office, which “concluded a long career voting in favour of anti-gay, racist, colonial policies.”
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May, who stepped down last week, said, “This was a sickening attack and my thoughts are with the couple affected. Nobody should ever have to hide who they are or who they love and we must work together to eradicate unacceptable violence towards the LGBT community,” according to The Guardian. Chris’s piece did not name May specifically.
Chris also argued the press coverage and attention from law enforcement “was not coincidental to our complexions” and encouraged everyone who was outraged about the attack to have the same response to victims who are not “a pretty brunette and blonde.”
“A refrain I’ve heard ad nauseum is ‘I can’t believe this happened — it’s 2019’. I disagree. This attack and the ensuing media circus are par for the course in 2019. In both my native United States and here in the United Kingdom, it always has been and still is open season on the bodies of (in no specific order) people of colour, indigenous people, transgender people, disabled people, queer people, poor people, women and migrants,” Chris wrote.