Current Events > Spike in anti-gay/transgender hate crimes across the UK after lockdown says cops

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In the early hours of Friday, June 11, three men were assaulted and subjected to homophobic abuse near a pub in Liverpool, England, by a group of teenagers, one of whom had a knife, according to police.

Due to the abhorrent verbal abuse the victims were subjected to, were treating this as a hate crime, Detective Inspector Chris Hawitt said in a statement at the time, calling the attack despicable and saying the Merseyside Police would not tolerate people being targeted in this manner because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

A few weeks after the incident, the Merseyside Police released a report saying that the increase in incidents involving LGBT+ victims has, sadly, mirrored an increase in crime experienced as lockdown restrictions were eased.

The Liverpool assault is one in a string of anti-gay hate crimes that happened over the summer in the United Kingdom.

West Midlands Police arrested three men last month after a same-sex couple was attacked in the Gay Village of Birmingham, England. Police said two men, both in their 30s, were attacked Aug. 15 with bottles after being subjected to homophobic abuse. One was left unconscious and the other suffered nasty cuts, according to a police report.

Crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity have increased almost every year since at least 2015, according to government data from England, Wales and Scotland. In England and Wales, sexual orientation hate crimes rose by 19 percent and anti-transgender crimes by 16 percent from March 2019 to March 2020. In Scotland, the number of hate crimes related to sexual orientation rose by 5 percent from April 1, 2020, to March 31.

The U.K. government, in a statement last year, attributed the uptick to better crime recording by law enforcement and improved identification of what is considered a hate crime. The police also report spikes in hate crimes after major political or terrorist events.

While some British LGBTQ activists agreed that queer people are more comfortable reporting hate crimes to police than they were in the past, they said the isolation from the pandemic and the increase in political hate speech and violence are energizing people with anti-gay feelings.

If there are people in power who are bigoted that legitimizes people to be hateful in their everyday life, said Rebecca Crowther, policy coordinator at the Equality Network in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Crowther said that in addition to the mental health toll the pandemic-related lockdown had taken on people, she has witnessed a rise in hate crimes in Scotland, adding that mistrust between the community and the police still exists.

After an attack involving two men in Edinburgh in July, three men were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged assaults and homophobic crime, according to Police Scotland.

Its become the Twilight Zone up here, Crowther said.

The U.K. government has made several major decisions regarding LGBTQ rights in the last year. Britain allowed sexually active gay and bisexual men to donate blood in a landmark change to existing policy last December. LGBTQ-inclusive sex eduation became mandatory in all of Englands high schools in September 2020.

When Edinburgh bars and public spaces shut down because of the pandemic, residents saw less LGBTQ markers like rainbow flags, according to Crowther.

It sends a message to the wider public that you are a welcoming space and wont tolerate hate, Crowther said of LGBTQ equality symbols.

As the countries reopen, Herring said combating anti-gay sentiments should happen all year around. He said everyone has a responsibility to report hate crimes they witness.

I can see everything moving in the right direction, Herring said about ongoing education efforts and Liverpool venues that want to become official safe spaces for the LGBTQ community. Its not just a reaction to one crime; its about the bigger picture.

Full Article: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/s-become-twilight-zone-rise-anti-gay-attacks-unsettle-uk-advocates-rcna2009


That conservative spin makes me sick. "Actually this is a good thing because it means people are reporting it and police are doing their jobs!"

Fuck you. The conservative anti gay, anti foreign, anti new, anti science, anti woman rhetoric is the reason things have been getting worse for years.

Blargh

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