In the wake of equality movements, LGBT issues seem to be at a stand still, in more ways than one. On Friday, the federal court in Hawaii settled a lawsuit between a city police officer and a lesbian couple.
The two women, Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero, vacationed in Hawaii in March 2015. Naturally, the two women were affectionate towards one other during their vacation, as any couple has the right to be.
While Wilson and Guerrero were grocery shopping and minding their own business, a homophobic off-duty police officer, Bobby Harrison, noticed the two women kissing and holding hands and arrested them for their alleged “inappropriate” behavior.
Looks like Wilson and Guerrero will have the last laugh on this one. On Friday, Honolulu’s federal court agreed to pay $80,000 to settle the couple’s lawsuit against Harrison. Ironically enough, the 26-year veteran officer retired two months after the women filed the suit.
After the court’s announcement, Wilson admitted to the press that the entire ordeal had overwhelmed and drained her.
“I don’t really know what either of us were looking to get honestly,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t money or anything. We wanted to be compensated, but I think more or less we wanted Officer Harrison to suffer some sort of repercussions for his actions.”
The city council still needs to approve the case; it is expected to consider the settlement at a meeting in July.
“The Department of the Corporation Counsel believes that the tentative settlement is in the best interests of the city,” corporation counsel Donna Leong said in a statement.
To express my feelings towards this case, here are some tweets from some lovely people:
They deserve 8 million and an apology. Lesbian Couple Jailed After Kissing in Honolulu Receive 80k Settlement https://t.co/7cYcqlD2Kp
— Erik Jensen (@erikjensen123) May 22, 2016
Yo this OFF DUTY officer Bobby Harrison in Honolulu that attacked the lesbian couple for PDA in the grocery store needs his ass beat!!!!!!
— Lady Green (@86GroupThink) November 2, 2015
https://twitter.com/tweetlessnbs/status/660906281444732929
Even though the women were compensated for their unfortunate encounter with Officer Harrison, this is not the end of discrimination towards gay people. This lawsuit proves that people, especially cops, are continuing to let their own biased beliefs rule their behavior, in turn publicly humiliating individuals who have every right to be affectionate towards partners of their choosing.
When will the term “homophobic” leave the human race? Possibly never, but this suit shows that if the government is admitting fault, there was clearly a breach of human decency and ethical guidelines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZvmRnHTBy4
Featured image via Getty by David Silverman.
