Gay couple subjected to homophobic abuse on late night bus
Daniel McDonnell and Giles Norton were targeted on the bus service in Cheltenham last week by a group of teenagers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A same sex couple have been subjected to homophobic abuse by a gang of youths on bus, police said.
Daniel McDonnell and Giles Norton were targeted on the late night bus service in Cheltenham last week by four or five teenagers.
Gloucestershire Police believe the couple, who had been to a drag event in the town, were targeted because Mr McDonnell was dressed in drag.
Officers said the pair were subjected to homophobic abuse by the youths on the top deck of the No 10 bus as it travelled from Cheltenham to Gloucester on the evening of March 12.
The bus driver was alerted to the incident and stopped on Shurdington Road so that the victims could get off.
The group, who made various comments towards the couple, were described as being white, all males, in their late teens and one of them was wearing a black sweatshirt.
Police said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.
Pc Steph Lawrence, county hate crime co-ordinator, said: “Gloucestershire is a welcoming, friendly and diverse county and we will not tolerate hate in any of its forms.
“We will work hard to address it, with the help of our partner agencies across the county.
“As a force we have a four-year strategic plan in place to tackle hate, we encourage all victims of these crimes to come forward and report either to us, or Gloucestershire Victim Support.
“We also encourage people not to be bystanders and report on behalf of others.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident to get in touch and CCTV enquiries are ongoing to identify those involved.