A teenage girl has been left bloodied and bruised after an alleged homophobic attack on a street in Hull.
18-year-old Ellie-Mae Mulholland, from Hull, East Riding, was reportedly attacked after confronting a friend over a tenner they owed her.
The teenager was then reportedly beaten ‘black and blue’ by two attackers, who called her a ‘f*cking lesbian’ and threatened, ‘you and your girlfriend are going to get it ten times worse next time’.
As reported by Hull Live, Ellie-Mae was treated at Hull Royal Infirmary, after having suffered a busted nose and two black eyes, as well as two large lumps on her head.
Ellie-Mae’s older sister, Stevie-Leigh Ansell, took to Facebook following the attack to share photographs of her sister’s injuries.
According to Hull Live, Stevie-Leigh, 22, said:
My younger sister was out and about on her way home from one of her friend’s house. She had seen a couple of her friends, who are usually her friends, and one of them owed her a tenner and Ellie asked about it.
The lass said she never had it. Then they both beat her [Ellie-Mae] black and blue. Because she is gay they called her a ‘f***ing lesbian, you and your girlfriend are going to get it ten times worse next time’.
She thought they were her friends. All this happened while she was on the phone to her mum.
Stevie-Leigh continued:
Just by looking at her face they have had a really good go at her, I think is absolutely ridiculous. I feel I cannot let this happen to my sister because she is gay. I just feel really helpless.
It is not okay, regardless if she is gay or not, to do this to an 18-year-old. It is absolutely disgusting. This is something daft over a tenner and then all the gay stuff came out which I don’t see why it is such a problem.
As soon as they have an argument it is straight to her being a lesbian. Because she smokes they won’t take her cigarettes off her because they say they will get lesbian germs.
The alleged incident follows the disgusting attack of a couple in London who refused to kiss in front of a group of men for their entertainment.
According to appalling statistics from Stonewall, dated 2017, one out of five Brits who identify as LGBTQ+ will have experienced a hate crime or incident due to their sexual orientation or gender identity in the last year.
Sadly, four out of five anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes and incidents still go unreported by victims, with younger LGBT people being especially reluctant to contact the police.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 9am until 9pm Monday to Friday, and 10am until 6pm Saturday, or email helpline@lgbt.foundation
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.