Watch: Homophobic Verbal Assault Allegedly Directed Toward Same-Sex Parents, Small Child, LGBTQ+ Bystanders

Source: Screencap/WJLA

Two same-sex couples – one of them parents to a small child – were allegedly subjected to a harrowing verbal attack while riding a Washington, D.C. Metro train. Authorities are investigating.

The alleged harasser was caught on video by one of the riders who he reportedly targeted, local news station WJLA reported.

"Gianna Gronowski said the incident happened mid-afternoon on Sunday [April 7], and that the man eventually yelled slurs at her and her partner in addition to the men with the child," the report detailed.

"Gronowski posted recordings of the man to the social media site X (formerly Twitter)," the report went on to add. "As of late Monday afternoon, X indicated one of Gronowski's videos had been viewed more than 5.5 million times."

"Just witnessed a small child get SCREAMED at by a man for having two dads," Gronowski's post said.

"This man yelled that everyone on the train should 'be sick' that this 'innocent child' was being raised by f@gs," the post continued; "we yelled at him to get off the train; the family departed and he followed them," Gronowski said.

In a followup post, Gronowski added that the man redirected his aggression toward her and her female partner.

"He then turned his attention on my partner and I and screamed at us for being gay, calling us slurs," Gronowski posted, including more video of the man, who was riding the train with a bicycle.

"We felt incredibly unsafe," Gronowski's post added. "He reboarded the train and stared us down for a few stops before exiting at Judiciary Sq."

The recordings did not capture the man's alleged attack on the male parents and their child. "I wish I had recorded his verbal assault," Gronowski added in another post. "But when he turned his attention toward me, I got shaky after have been brutally physically assaulted on the metro just a year prior."

The new report said that Gronowski further explained that she felt personally threatened in the moment.

"He seemed like somebody who was filled so much with hate and disgust for what he was seeing that he would be willing to do anything to make his point," the report quoted her as saying.

"He was acting so aggressive that we really did fear that any sudden movements or provocation would escalate into violence," she told the news station.

But she was prompted to take action seeing how the family she said was being verbally assaulted were affected.

"The looks of horror on the dads' faces was was really sank in with me," Gronowski told the news channel.

Gronowski added that she feels "it's really important that people know that these incidences are on the rise and that they're happening to our community, and it's not just in places like Texas, and Florida, and Oklahoma."

To watch the WJLA news report, follow this link.