Melania and Chris have spoken out about the homophobic attack on the bus (Picture: Channel 4)

A gay couple who were victims of a horrific homophobic attack on a London bus have spoken out about their ordeal.

Melania Geymonat and girlfriend Chris were set upon by a gang of youths who demanded they kiss for their entertainment.

The couple said their friends have now advised them to leave the UK following a rise in homophobic attacks in recent years.

Melania, a medical student from Uruguay, said the thugs on the bus viewed the couple as ‘sexual objects’ and said it was an attack on women.


She told Channel 4 News: ‘These guys saw we were together. They started making some really aggressive comments about us being lesbians and sexual positions and making stuff with their hands.



‘They were saying we should kiss so people could watch.’

The original image of Melania and Chris on the bus caused widespread disgust

Melania, 28, added: ‘First of all, it was an attack towards women and, then after, homosexual women.

‘The first thing that happened that night was they were watching us or had seen us as sexual objects.

‘They thought we were there to entertain them, so in that case we were objects to them.’

Melania and American Chris, 29, were punched and robbed on the bus in the early hours of May 30 following an evening out in West Hampstead.

Chris suffered a broken jaw while Melania suffered a suspected broken nose.

A chilling photograph of the pair sitting bloodied on the bus after the attack caused worldwide revulsion.

Chris said the reason their assault had caught so much attention was that the picture was ‘very striking’ depicting ‘two white women who were tidily packaged into sympathetic victims.’

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Melania, who lives in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, added that while the attack is the first most serious assault she has suffered, taunts about her sexuality are all too familiar.

She told the Times: ‘It’s not the first time this happens to me that I’m with a girlfriend or on a date and men tend to be excited by watching.

‘That’s one of the things that really annoyed me.

‘I’m 28, so it has been ten years that I have seen this.

‘We are not performing. It feels really humiliating to be treated like that.’

Melania Geymonat posted about the attack on Facebook

Campaign group Stonewall has pointed out that homophobic attacks are on the rise.

They said that 16% of lesbian, gay and bisexual people had experienced a hate crime or incident in 2016.

That compared to 9% in 2013 – a rise of 78%.

Melania added that her friends and family have told her ‘get the hell out of the country’ and head back to Uruguay, which decriminalised homosexuality in 1934.

Chris said though that the ordeal meant she was more likely to stand up for herself.

She said: ‘I am not scared about being visibly queer.

‘If anything, you should do it more.

‘I was and am still angry. It was scary, but this is not a novel situation.

‘A lot of people’s rights and basic safety are at risk.



‘I want people to feel emboldened to stand up to the same people who feel emboldened by the right-wing populism that is, I feel, responsible for the escalation in hate crime.

‘I want people to take away from this that they should stand up for themselves and each other.’

The couple have spoken out about their ordeal (Picture: Channel 4)

The couple said that the police had been ‘extremely good’ in dealing with the incident.

Both outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn condemned the attack.

Five teenagers aged between 15 and 18 have been charged with robbery and aggravated grevious bodily harm.

All five have been bailed until early July.