An Australian couple have launched a scathing attack on Jetstar after the airline's staff failed to help them when they were allegedly subjected to homophobic abuse.
Cat Franke made a Facebook post on New Year's Day about the "verbal abuse and hate" she and partner Julz Evans' suffered on a flight from Melbourne to Perth the night before.
- US anti-gay conference ridiculed for opening with 'impeccably gay' dance
- Anti-gay Auckland pastor Logan Robertson launches church in Australia
- 'Stop the f*gs': Homophobic campaigners spread shocking material in Australia
In it, she claimed that a heavily intoxicated man in the row behind them urged them to kiss again after they shared a New Year's kiss, and then berated them for being gay when they failed to follow through.
"[He] started mumbling, 'Kiss, come on, I wanna see some lesbians kiss'. My partner and I felt so uncomfortable because of this pervert we immediately stopped our conversation and sat as still as possible, hoping he would leave us alone," Ms Franke wrote.
"Unfortunately because we had not met his request he began his homophobic slurs, singing loudly and also mumbling about how we were f****ts, d***s and poofters.
"He then began to kick and punch my partners chair while saying how we weren't equals and rambled about his beliefs about marriage."
Ms Franke said it was clear the man was drunk, yet flight attendants continued to serve him drinks and failed to do anything when they made complaints about him.
She said his abuse was so severe that she literally feared for her and her partner's life.
"We were physically trapped with someone who wanted to hurt us and make sure we had a terrible time. When I spoke up to ask him to stop, he only got more aggressive and louder with his homophobic hate speech and began boxing the back of my partners chair," Ms Franke said.
"The punching continued for hours and my partner could not lean back against their seat. They had to lean forward against the seat in front, even upon landing."
The Facebook post on Jetstar's profile has since garnered over 1000 reactions and hundreds of comments, the majority of them in support of the couple.
Ms Franke and Ms Evans have each been gifted a AU$50 voucher while an investigation takes place. They are pushing for a full refund for their flight, and are urging the airline to blacklist the perpetrator.
Newshub.
