Mother in court charged with beating daughter for being gay

(WJBK) - A Detroit mother is charged with child abuse accused of attacking her 15-year-old daughter.

Investigators say the girl was beaten because of her sexual orientation. The mother, Iyesha Porter, is accused of finding her daughter's sexual orientation intolerable - then beat her because of it.

"I felt scared - I already knew I was worried and scared," the daughter said.

The teen took the stand and described how she felt when her mother discovered a lesbian love letter between her and another girl, knowing she would become violent at any moment.

It happened on Nov. 11, police say Iyesha Porter read the letter, signed her daughter out of school, brought her home and proceeded to scream gay slurs at her as she beat her.

"She called me a (slur, expletive)," the daughter said. "She said 'You're never going to be my daughter again and you can't live in this house any more.

"She pushed me, she grabbed me, she was shaking me. She hit against the wall. She was shaking me."

Porter, 34, has been charged with child abuse and assault and battery.

Dana Nessel, the president of the Fair Michigan Justice Project, is hoping this case sends a message that this behavior from anyone - let alone a parent - is unacceptable.

"People who see this will come to understand that it is not appropriate to deal with your child this way under any set of circumstances," she said. "But certainly being bisexual gay or trans is nothing a child should be punished for."

Nessel points to the startling statistics that many within the LGBT community face -  kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation - often leading to drug abuse, homelessness and even suicide.

"We can't let this happen anymore," Nessel said.

A judge found enough evidence to send Iyesha Porter to trial, calling what this mother is accused of, tragic.

For now  Porter is not allowed to have any contact with her teenage daughter. FOX 2 is told the daughter is safe staying with her father.