IT Chapter Two gay characters: The true story behind harrowing homophobic attack

IT Chapter Two is in cinemas as Pennywise continues to plague the town of Derry. The film begins with a particularly harrowing scene where violence is delivered by the humans themselves before the creature takes hold. And there is a terrifying true story behind this horrific moment.

**WARNING IT CHAPTER TWO SPOILERS**

What is the true story behind the homophobic attack in IT Chapter Two?

In the film, bullies spot a gay couple together at a funfair in Derry, and target them with homophobic abuse.

This abuse starts with them hurling insults at the couple, who try to walk away and ignore it as well as possible.

However things take a horrifically violent turn when the couple walk away from the fair, only to find they have been followed by the bullies who begin beating them.

One of the men, Adrian Mellon, suffers from asthma and is barely able to breathe when he is beaten to within an inch of his life.

As his partner is held down and screams for the violence to end, the attackers lift up Adrian and throw him over a bridge into the river below.

His partner runs down to find him, but instead discovers he has been set upon by the evil Pennywise, who bites into him and ends his life.

The horrific ordeal echoes a real life attack, which played out in Bangor, Maine.

A 23-year-old called Charlie Howard was walking down the street with another man, Roy Ogden, when three teenagers set upon them.

They chased them, shouting homophobic insults at them, before they caught Charlie and threw him over the State Street Bridge into the Kenduskeag Stream, despite him telling them he could not swim.

Roy escaped and pulled a fire alarm to alert authorities, but Charlie drowned.

He had also suffered from a severe asthma attack, as the autopsy later revealed.

Stephen King is a notable resident of Bangor and wrote It only two years after the incident, showing how greatly it affected him.

Another moment where a homophobic attack is seen is in Richie’s memories, when he recounts bullies forcing him to leave an arcade due to his sexuality.

The themes of homophobia clearly affected King are continued in the adaptation by Andres Muschietti.