Texas Lesbian Beaten For Defending Son From Bullies

A lesbian from Texas says she was severely beaten after she defended her girlfriend's four-year-old son from a group of bullies. The woman says she wasn't attacked by the young boys but by one of the bullies' fathers, Dallas' ABC-TV affiliate WFAA reports.

Sondra Scarber, 27, of Mesquite, Texas, (about 12 miles east of Dallas), says that she and her partner, Hillary Causey, took Causey's four-year-old son, Jaxon, who is being raised by both women, to a local playground on Feb. 17.

The couple noticed Jaxon being harassed by a group of older boys. Scarber told the bullies to leave him alone. Causey, 26, claims that one of the boys' fathers became upset when he realized that Scarer and Causey were lesbians.

"When he walked up thinking it was father and mom with the kid, he wasn't as angry "but then when he figured out it was a female, he got like super pissed, and I don't know why," Causey told WFFA.

She went on to say the man punched and kicked Scarber a number of times and spewed anti-gay slurs at her while she was unconscious.

"He was like, 'well if you think you're a man, I'm going to treat you like a man,'" Causey said. "All she kept saying was, 'I'm a female. I'm a female...' She never even had time to take her hands out of pockets to try and block herself."

As a result of the attack, Scarber's jaw has been wired shut and she says she is in constant pain. She has to use a syringe to squeeze medicine between her teeth and says eating solids or even swallowing a small pill is impossible.

"It's hard for me to stay strong when I see myself in the mirror," she said. "Her face is badly swollen and bruised. "I can't do anything for myself."

Although the women believe the incident was a hate crime, the Mesquite police are not treating the attack as one because the fight occurred over the dispute between the children. The authorities say they are looking for a black man, about 5 feet, 7 inches, who weighs about 185 pounds. He was wearing a royal blue T-shirt and jeans, and was driving an early 2000s silver Chevrolet Impala with temporary tags. Police say he was with a black woman, about 5 foot 5 inches, weighing 140 pounds, who was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans.

Scarber worries how the incident will impact Jaxon. "I think it's evil to treat somebody in such a way and get away with it," she said. "I don't think it's okay to put someone in this much pain because you don't think it's okay for me to raise my son."