Gay Man Allegedly Attacked in London for Holding Partner's Hand

A gay man is opening up after he said he was attacked in London for holding his boyfriend's hand.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, Timothy Rumney, 29, decided to come forward with his story in hopes it would encourage victims of hate crimes to report their attackers to police.

Rumney says a man punched him in the face while he was waiting for a bus with his partner after visiting a gay club.The couple was walking the streets early Sunday morning when they overheard a man with his girlfriend refer to them as "batty men," a slur used towards gay men.

Rumney says he challenged the man, who asked them why they were holding hands. A few minutes later the man approached the couple as they were waiting for the bus and punched Rumney, a retail buyer, in the face.

He said he decided to challenge the man's remarks because he wanted to defend himself and his boyfriend.

"I am not normally one to put myself out there but because I was with my partner I said 'Mate, what are you on about?' "He answered 'Why are you holding hands?' And I said; 'Because he is my boyfriend.' About five minutes later he was walking towards the bus stop. He came straight up to me and asked what my problem was," he told the Standard.

He added: "I said 'are you going to apologize because you were using offensive language?' I said 'leave me alone.' And because I turned around to speak to my boyfriend he hit me on the left side of my face. Then he ran on to the bus with his girlfriend."

Rumney suffered a swollen cheek and lip but did not require hospital treatment. He told the newspaper he didn't want to keep quiet about the incident and have to hide his sexuality.

"I have never been attacked or bullied at school because of my sexuality. It is the first thing [of this kind] that has happened to me," Rumney told the Evening Standard.

The newspaper asked him if he were scared to "Walk on the capital's streets."

"I am proud to be with my boyfriend. If anything it has driven me the other way. I do not feel that it has made me feel any different about being by myself or being around London," he said. "The area has a lot of CCTV. I reported the bus number and where he was standing. I did not feel under any sort of threat. There was no thought that I was really in danger. I did not expect it to happen."

Rumney went on to say that the incident left him thinking more hate crime victims should report their attackers to the proper authorities.

"It should not be a case of we should not report it. No one should be on that side at all," he said. "I might not have reported it if I had been on my own. But [the man] should not be using that kind of terminology. He did not like me calling him out on it."

Officials from Scotland Yard said they were currently investigation allegations of an anti-gay attack that occurred in the area Rumney said where he was attacked.

Detectives are looking at security camera footage and say they are looking for a slim black man in his late 20s about 5'8" with stubble. He was wearing a dark waistcoat and a hat at the time. The woman he was with had brown hair, is in her early 20s and was wearing a blue and white stripped dress.