Gay couple 'suffer tirade of abuse by Tesco worker in Brixton over kiss on the cheek'

Steve Luetchford with boyfriend Mattia Pievani
Steve Luetchford
Rachel Blundy8 August 2015

A gay man claimed he was subjected to a tirade of abuse by a Tesco worker at his local store in south London after his boyfriend kissed him on the cheek.

Steve Luetchford, 28, was shopping with his 25-year-old partner Mattia Pievani at the supermarket in Acre Lane, Brixton yesterday evening when, he claims, the female cashier began verbally abusing them.

He claims that the woman began hurling abuse at him after his boyfriend kissed him on the cheek, saying they should be "ashamed" of their behaviour.

When he challenged her outburst, she allegedly continued to abuse them. The couple, who have been in a relationship for 18 months and live together in Stockwell, claim that when they went to a second member of staff to complain about the issue, they were laughed at by two more members of staff who would not refer them to the store manager

'Abused': Steve Luetchford and Mattia Pievani
Steve Luetchford

Describing the incident, Mr Luetchford, originally from South Africa, told the Standard: "We were shopping and picked up some washing powder. My partner held my hand and gave me a kiss and then suddenly we heard this lady shouting, saying we could not do that here, that we should be ashamed of ourselves and we should get out. She was quite rude and dismissive to us. We told her she had no right to talk to us like that, and she responded 'you people have no right'."

Mr Luetchford, who works as manager of the Ku bar, a gay venue in Soho, said he had since made a formal complaint to Tesco. He said he hoped the workers involved would receive "more than just a slap on the wrist" from their employer.

He said: "She openly belittled us and mocked us. I felt like I had no power. My partner wanted to avoid confrontation but I didn't want to keep quiet. I do not want them to lose their jobs but I do not want it to just be slap on the wrist either."

He added: "I come from South Africa and I have never had that happen to me before, even though people think that in Africa, it is more backward. I have a problem myself with public displays of affection, but we were not doing that, it was just a peck on the cheek."

The part-time actor said he had received an outpouring of support from social media users after tweeting about the incident yesterday.

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He wrote: "Just got some some serious #homophobic #abuse by some @Tesco employees in Brixton because my boyfriend kissed me on the cheek. Disgusted!"

A spokeswoman for Tesco said the company was investigating the incident. She would not comment on how long the investigation was likely to take.

She said: “Everyone is welcome at Tesco so we take any allegations of discrimination extremely seriously.

"Our Brixton Store Manager is looking into the incident and our customer service team, who are in contact with Mr Luetchford, will update him as soon as they can.”

The incident follows another complaint of homophobic abuse at a Tesco store in Surrey Quays in January, which saw a checkout worker allegedly claim that "gay people shouldn't have babies" after serving a pregnant lesbian couple.

A spokeswoman for gay rights charity Stonewall said: “We have been working with Tesco since 2011 to help them support their LGBT employees, and to ensure they create an inclusive environment for staff and customers.

"We’re sure Tesco will take this incident seriously and conduct a thorough investigation. Unfortunately, discriminatory behaviour is an everyday experience for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. There is still more to do and our job is to help organisations and institutions improve.”

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