Lesbian couple alleges Honolulu police officer harassed them over public kiss

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian and agencies

Lesbian couple alleges Honolulu ​​police officer harassed them over public kiss​

Mahita Gajanan and agencies
Thursday 29 October 2015 21.10 GMT

The Honolulu police department opened an internal investigation this week into allegations that a police officer wrongfully arrested a vacationing lesbian couple after seeing them kissing in a grocery store.

For Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero, a visit to Hawaii from Los Angeles in March quickly became a nightmare on their second day in the state. In a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the women said that they were harassed and arrested because the police officer disapproved of their public displays of affection in a Foodland store on Oahu’s North Shore.

The couple of two years said the officer’s conduct was motivated by discrimination toward homosexual couples.

Wilson, 25, and Guerrero, 22, were walking around the Foodland Pupukea store on March 3, according to the lawsuit. They held hands and at one point stopped, hugged and kissed each other. The lawsuit said officer Bobby Harrison, who was off-duty but shopping in uniform, “observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice ordered plaintiffs to stop and ‘take it somewhere else’”.

The women complied and continued shopping out of view from Harrison. A short time later, Harrison reportedly saw them being affectionate again, and threatened to have them thrown out of the store. He then sought out the store manager and encouraged the manager to issue written trespass warnings to Wilson and Guerrero.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/29/honolulu-police-allegations-officer-harassed-lesbian-couple

[LostOne4Ever]

1. That officer needs to be FIRED

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=indigo]and sued for a huge amount for all the harm he did.

He ruined their vacation, he caused them to have to get odd jobs and work when they should have been having the time of their lives, and probably took years off their lives just because he is a bigot.

Further, if an official like that has no qualms about abusing their power in a situation like that, imagine all the other corruption that has gone down on his watch.

He is not fit for any job with regards to the law. Not even a Janitor.

The city should also pay for this incident.[/font]

[Amimnoch]

2. Harrison did not have handcuffs on him at the time so store employees helped restrain the women

WTF???

Sounds like some store employees should also be getting a suit coming their way imo..

[Kath1]

3. He really should be fired and those other meddlers need to be sued!

These bigots need to get with the times. LOVE = LOVE and it is a beautiful thing, regardless of gender.



What an idiot!