2015/11/03
After six months of being homeless, penniless and relying on the mercy of friends and strangers, Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero are still together and they are filing a lawsuit because a police officer did not take kindly to a minor public display of affection.
It was only the second day of their much-anticipated holiday to Hawaii when the lesbian couple found themselves in the basement of a Foodland store while being asked if it was worth it and if they were happy.
They say they have been targets of malicious remarks before, but the experience in Hawaii was devastating.
Wilson and Guerrero have been seeing each other for two years and went to the island for a holiday in March.
As they walked through the aisles of a grocery store, the vacationing pair held hands and kissed each other.
This did not bode well with a fellow shopper – 26 year veteran police officer Bobby Harrison, who was-off duty but in uniform at the time.
He ordered them to “take it somewhere else“.
Familiar with the occasional rude comment, the two did not pay much attention and continued shopping.
Then, officer saw them again this time he issued a more serious warning, he said they would be thrown out of the store if they continued.
At the checkout line they faced more aggravation from Harrison.
Having had enough trouble at the hands of the cop, Wilson decided to call 911.
As she did so, he got hold of her wrist and Guerrero tried to protect her girlfriend.
Harrison shoved her and she fell to the ground.
Then, he punched Wilson in the face, so hard that she got a deep gash on her nose.
The off-duty officer did not have any handcuffs on him, so he made store employees pinned down the women while they looked for something to tie their hands. Following this the couple was taken into the store basement.
Both women were charged with felony assault on an officer and placed under arrest.
Then they spent three days behind bars and had to use up all the money they had to pay the bail. One of the conditions was that they could not leave Honolulu.
They spent the next five months doing cleaning jobs at vacation rentals and at the mercy of others. Eventually, their charges were dropped.
Effectively, their holiday was ruined and they had spent months doing odd jobs because the officer who arrested them had made a mistake.
Harrison remains on full active-duty.
Wilson and Guerrero are hoping the lawsuit will raise awareness and highlight that civilian rights are above and beyond sexual preferences.
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