A same-sex couple said they have been left ‘terrified’ and feel forced out of their home after a campaign of homophobic abuse.
Rachel Roustoby and Alex Houlden, both 23, say they have received letters stating that ‘d*** don’t belong in the area’ and that they need to move out of their two-bedroom flat they share together in York.
The couple even had ‘Merry Xmas f**s’ written on their front door, alongside a bag of dog poo, on Christmas Day. A used condom was once left on their door handle, they said.
Rachel says people have even come up to her in the street and told her that it is ‘wrong to be gay’, leaving them ‘terrified’ of staying in the area. They say the incidents have been repeatedly logged with the police, who say they are treating it as a hate crime.
Rachel said: “My partner and I have been left terrified. I have only more recently come out as gay so I’ve not had to deal with this sort of homophobic stuff before but my partner came out when she was around 13.
“Alex has been beaten up in the past for being gay so she is terrified by this and her mental health has deteriorated. Can you imagine getting hate for the person you are in love with?
The note left at their home
“We feel a little bit forced to leave, we were planning to buy a house together in a few years and stay here until then.”
The couple said they discovered rubbish left outside of their property and they nearly got fined for fly-tipping. Rachel says she then received a note stating that someone didn’t like the couple’s lifestyle, but they were left confused and didn’t realise the note was homophobic.
But on another occasion, they arrived home to a used condom on their door handle and were sent two more notes which read ‘d***s don’t belong in this area’ and ‘f**k off d***s.’
The second note left at their door
Since then, the couple say their parcels have been stolen and Rachel was approached by someone and was told that it was ‘wrong to be gay.’
Rachel said: “I’ve rang my housing association in tears. How can people say this sort of stuff, when we are in this society?”
Rachel first moved into the property around three years ago and she lived there with her ex-boyfriend. She then continued living in the property after they split up and Alex, of Lincoln, moved into the flat in December 2023.
Rachel says that before Alex moved into the property, she rarely spoke to her neighbours but said she never had any problems with them.
She said: “I think they were fine before, I didn’t really talk to them. I usually kept myself to myself so I never really spoke to anyone as I’m quite introverted myself.
“My neighbours seemed to be okay but I didn’t really speak to them. We didn’t think this would happen in such a lovely area, as I had lived here for three years with no issues.”
She added: “I have no idea who this could be. I received a full-on paragraph saying that my lifestyle wasn’t accepted.”
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We’re actively investigating a series of harassment-type incidents which have been reported by the victims over several weeks.
“We can confirm these incidents are being treated as a hate crime and we’ve been carrying out a number of lines of enquiry to identify who is responsible. Incidents such as these are extremely distressing for victims and we take them very seriously.
“We’re working closely with the victims to ensure they’re kept updated and appropriate measures are in place for their personal safety. As part of our investigation, we would urge anyone who has information to contact us on 101.
“You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 who will pass on information to North Yorkshire Police in confidence. Please provide reference number 12240218474 when sharing information.”