Queer Couple Terrorized By Drunken Homophobe on New Year's Eve Flight

A queer couple was trapped on an airplane with a drunken homophobe who set off when they kissed each other at midnight to celebrate the New Year. He proceeded to hurl insults at Cat Franke, 23, and Julz Evans, 26, during their three-hour Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Perth in Australia, and Jetstar flight attendants did nothing about it, according to one of the victims.

"He put his face up to the gap in the chair and started mumbling about how he wanted to watch lesbians kiss," Franke wrote about the incident on Facebook, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The man became increasingly angry when the couple refused to oblige him. He called them epithets and punched the back of Evans seat for the duration of the flight, Franke wrote.

"Unfortunately because we had not met his request he began his homophobic slurs, singing loudly and also mumbling about how we were faggots, dykes, and poofters," Franke wrote. "He then began to kick and punch my partner's chair while saying how we weren't equals and rambled about his beliefs about marriage."

Franke said that flight attendants did nothing about the man's outbursts and instead "giggled" at his behavior, but a representative for Jetstar, who confirmed that the man was served three drinks while on the flight, said the crew was only made aware of his harassing Franke and Julz upon landing.

"I feared for mine and my partner's lives on that plane, we were physically trapped with someone who wanted to hurt us and make sure we had a terrible time," Franke wrote. "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 partner's chair."

"Our crew are trained to identify whether passengers are intoxicated and in this instance, our crew do not believe this passenger was," the Jetstar representative said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. "We don't tolerate discrimination of any kind."

The airline is reportedly investigating the incident. Meanwhile, Jetstar gave Franke and Evans a $50 voucher each for their troubles. But Franke, calling the experience "the worst instance of homophobia" they'd ever experienced, demanded a full refund for the flight and for Jetstar to ban the harasser for life from the airline.

Photo via Cat Franke Instagram.