Honolulu accepted court’s order to pay $80,000 as settlement to a lawsuit from two gay women who were humiliated at a grocery store. A police officer on duty is alleged to have wrongfully arrested the lesbian couple after seeing them kiss and caress each other in public.
Details of the settlement were announced Friday in federal court in Honolulu.
The court order remains subject to City Council’s approval which is expected to reconsider the settlement at a July 6 hearing, said Honolulu Deputy Corporation Counsel Nicolette Winter.
Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero were visiting Hawaii from Los Angeles last year when they were harassed and arrested because the officer found them showing affection in public.
Image: The incident which led to this lawsuit occurred in 2015 at Foodland store on Oahu’s North Shore.
Although legal proceedings has been delayed until now, Courtney and Taylor are both excited with the final court settlement.
According to a report, both were walking through the aisles holding hands and at one point hugged and kissed each other.
Officer Bobby Harrison, who was shopping in uniform, “observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and ‘take it somewhere else.”’
Courtney and Taylor complied with the instructions from the police officer and moved on with their shopping but couldn’t control their feelings afterwards. They got lost into each other again.
Angry and offended, Officer Harrison threatened to have them thrown out of the store. He then watched them stroll to the check-out line before grabbing one of the women by the wrist. All three persons got into a fight but the officer successfully arrested them.
A bystander confirmed that one of the lesbian couple started calling 911 as the struggle continued.
Both women spent three days in jail after being arrested. They were charged with felony assault.
After the lawsuit was filed, Honolulu Police Department opened an internal investigation though results weren’t made public as at Saturday.
“The settlement dismisses Harrison from the lawsuit and isn’t an admission of any wrongdoing,” Winter said.
Wilson said she and Guerrero are no longer a couple but remain friends. She went back to Los Angeles while Guerrero decided to stay in Honolulu.
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For what? The laws in America condones immorality. Being gay isn’t a choice as they say. We all understand it. But in the same way, do they have to put it in our faces just to prove “equality” or what?
God save their souls.
It happens in a country like the US but not in others like Saudi Arabia.
It’s a pity people still show hate in a country like USA.
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Nonsense! This happens only in the US. How do you get paid for committing immoral acts in public. Lesbianism is disgusting.
That’s an outrageous amount to give lesbians for their humiliation. Anyways, it’s a free American society.
Thank you for the post. I’m not a lesbian but just want to add here that the girls have a right to be what they are. It’s a pity that some discriminatory laws and religious has filthy things to say about lesbianism.
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This is my first time of reading such news. It definitely marks the world’s end if lesbians also claim rights for embarrassment. I agree it can only happen in USA.