Ontario man beat lesbian mom until her face 'burst open'

A woman told an Ontario court Wednesday that a man yelling gay slurs punched her partner until her face "burst open."

Mark Scott of Oshawa, Ont., is facing two counts of assault causing bodily harm after the couple was attacked outside of their children's elementary school.

The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the November 2008 beating.

Anji Dimitriou said Scott called her and Jane Currie "dyke bitches".

Dimitriou, 31, said he spat on her face and punched her twice, once near her left eye and again on the left side of her head.

He also punched Currie so hard her face "burst open" and she started bleeding, Dimitriou said.

Currie, 38, wept during her testimony when she told the court of her six-year-old son witnessing the attack.

"I remember hearing (him) crying," she said. "I've never heard a scream like that."

Both women testified that Nov. 3 was not the first time they had met Scott.

They said he twice blocked the handicap parking spot Dimitriou used when picking up her children.

Last December, police said Scott would not face hate charges, despite pressure from the Oshawa community.

11/16/2008
VIDEO: Hundreds rally for lesbian moms assaulted at elementary school

More than 500 people - from Oshawa, Toronto, Sudbury, Calgary and Newfoundland - came to support the moms who were attacked outside their local elementary school.

Kids at Gordon B. Attersley Public School witnessed the lesbian couple being verbally and physically assaulted while picking up their children.

Speaking to the crowd Jane Currie said:

“There are voices of hate in all of our cities and there are voices of hate in all of our religions and those voices of hate sometimes incite violence or sanction violence. We can disagree with each other without being hateful. So we want to hear from the voices of inclusion and we invite religious leaders in particular to speak out for inclusion. Eleven days ago, my life, our lives, your lives were forever changed. Now is the time for change. No more fear. No more anger. No more hate. I don’t want our children, anybody’s children, to be scared of who they are or what they are, regardless.”

She and Dimitriou were overwhelmed by the crowd.

“I want to thank each and every one of you beautiful people that are here this evening. The people in front of me and the people behind me, you’re all fantastic an d you have no idea how much your gestures have not gone unnoticed,” said Currie.

"And the support doesn’t end in Canada, I don’t know if you guys know that this has gone worldwide. It’s not just here. It’s gone to the (United) States, Australia, Turkey, Scotland, England, Costa Rica even Madrid. And everybody knows what happened, but now it’s time to stop it from happening again to anybody. You guys showing up here just prove that we can change and we will change. We want to change all hate laws. We’re talking about everybody. We don’t care what race, what religion, what gender, it doesn’t matter, hate is hate."

Wayne Harrison, vice-president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) travelled from New Brunswick to bring a message that they will be working to have this crime “upgraded to a hate crime to prevent the horrific and brutal assault of Anji and Jane” from ever happening again.

WATCH:

11/10/2008
Lesbian moms attacked outside elementary school

A Toronto-area lesbian couple were the targets of an unprovoked attack and assault by a parent at an elementary school. The women were picking-up their kids Friday, after school, when the man attacked.

Local news reports, "Ms. Dimitriou, 30, and her lesbian partner Jane Currie, 37, said Friday they still can’t believe what happened. 'He clocked me right in the face, like right in the side of my face, and I hit my truck and I couldn’t see anything, like I blacked out,' Ms. Dimitriou said. 'I was awake but I could hear everything but I just couldn’t see anything. Then I think he clocked me again right in the top of my head.' Classes had just let out Monday at Gordon B. Attersley elementary school on Attersley Drive, according to the couple. Ms. Dimitriou said she was helping her son put his backpack into the car when another student’s father came toward her and began yelling. He referred to her and Ms. Currie as men, she said, as she recounted what happened. Ms. Dimitriou said the man swore at her, called her a slang word for lesbian in an aggressive and derogatory way, then 'out of nowhere' spit in her face and punched her."

Dimitriou's partner Currie was also assaulted when she came to Dimitriou's assistance. Currie required four stitches. The attack happened in front of the couple's children, the attacker's children, and other kids at a school. Mark Scott faces two charges of assault.