A lesbian couple from Oshawa, Ont. is pushing for hate crime charges against a man who assaulted them, saying the attacker lashed out because of their lifestyle.

Durham Regional Police charged an Oshawa man with two counts of assault causing bodily harm following the incident.

Jane Currie and Anji Dimitriou say they were waiting in their car outside their children's Oshawa school when they were confronted by the man.

"He goes, 'which one of you f------ men talked to my kid?'" Dimitriou, who is disabled and uses a cane to walk, told CTV's Canada AM

A verbal confrontation ensued, escalating when the man spit in Dimitriou's face. As she went to wipe the spit away, the man punched her in the face, she said, causing her to fall backwards and strike her head on her vehicle.

She believes she was then struck again, this time on the top of her head.

Then Currie, who got out of the car and came to help, was also punched in the face before witnesses intervened.

Currie remembers the man shouting, calling the women "F------ dyke bitches" during the attack.

Both women have black eyes, bruises or stitches resulting from the attack on Nov. 3 at Gordon B. Attersley public school in Oshawa.

But their biggest concern is for their children and other students at the school who watched the violence unfold.

"The bruises will fade and the stitches will fall out but what those children saw that day was just unbelievable. They saw a grown man assault two women," Currie said.

The women have some history with the man, saying their sons were involved in a disagreement at school on Halloween.

They also said the man has verbally attacked them in the past over their sexual orientation.

Durham police have said they will investigate the possibility that the attack would in fact constitute a hate crime. However, that decision is usually made by the Crown attorney's office.

Between them, the couple has two sons and a daughter, all under the age of seven.

Police have charged Mark Scott, 43.