A New Wave of Hate: LGBTQ Hate Crime is Rising

In 2003, the UK government abolished the anti-LGBTQ bill, Section 28. The bill, which prohibited “the teaching, in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship” censored the LGBTQ community for 20 years. Now, 20 years on, a petition for the bill to be reinstated has reached a huge 215,208 signatures and will be considered in parliament within the year.

With reports of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in the UK doubling in the past five years, this development marks a huge step back in attitudes toward the LGBTQ community that has been brewing for half a decade. To find out how the rise in hate had been affecting the community, I planned to head out to Birmingham Pride to talk with the public, but first, I wanted to sit down with one individual who had a heart-breaking story to share.

Antony’s Story

I met with 21 year old model and part-time waiter Antony Bugos who had been violently assaulted in a homophobic attack on his way to work.

The first time I met Antony, I was enthralled by his incredible aura. Although, as my waiter at a restaurant in Birmingham, his only job was to take my order, he became the highlight of my night. His friendly, confident attitude was contagious. We exchanged compliments and went on to talk about fashion, music, and clubbing. By the time the meal was over, I felt I had made a new, amazing friend.

Fast forward two months and two tipsy trips back to the restaurant, Antony revealed to me that he had been the victim of a violent, homophobic assault. The incident was so shocking that I couldn’t believe what I had heard. I asked Antony if I could talk to him in more depth about the attack in a more private setting.

When I met with Antony, he was ready to jump straight into the interview. I got the sense that he was eager to get his story out which was understandable; being viciously attacked for being yourself is unjust, but his story went further than an unjust attack, he had been treated unjustly by the people in our community who are trusted to uphold justice, and I was about to find out.

The Attack

Antony began – “I had gone to Sainsbury’s to get a RedBull before work.”

It all makes sense now, I thought, no one could be that naturally energetic all the time!

“As I was getting out of my car, a group of teenagers started shouting homophobic slurs at me, batty boy, gay boy, f****t. Obviously, I ignored them and walked away.”

Already, it was clear Antony had experienced this kind of abuse before and, he knew, attempting to defend himself may only dump him in more trouble. His calmness was admirable but, also, troubling; how much hate had been hurled at him to build his skin so thick, how long had he been experiencing this abuse?

“I went into the shop where I saw two police officers. I told them that the group of teenagers had been shouting homophobic slurs at me. As I left the shop, the teenagers began repeating the slurs and, as i looked behind me, I actually saw that the two police officers were in hearing distance and that they heard everything and got in their car anyway. That was the first point where I felt like they had failed to do their job properly. Regardless of whether they could’ve arrested them or not, they should’ve at least gone over and said to them, that’s not acceptable behaviour… because it really isn’t.”

Antony was right, without a shadow of a doubt, anyone could see that. Hate crime is against the law and yet, the law turned a blind eye. The realisation that not even the police protected Antony was gut-wrenching. If you can’t go to the police, who can you go to?

“As I got into my car and attempted to drive further up the car park, the group of teens then jumped in-front of my car so I couldn’t get past. At this point, I decided to get out of my car. One of them asked me if we could have a scrap. He tried to punch me quite a few times, he had managed to punch me in the cheek and then he pulled me to the ground. That’s when the group of kids began to join in and started to kick me. I then heard a police car drive past, they blared their sirens once. I thought, thank god, they’re going to come and help me. They just drove past and had the cheek to say move on kids. I had to flee to my car, at this point I was crying my eyes out, I was really upset.”

Not only had the police ignored a verbal hate crime, they had ignored a physical assault too. It was hard to see how this situation could’ve been shrugged off by the officers. It made me wonder, how often do the force see instances like this and, furthermore, are they debriefed on how to handle them? I began writing a mental note of my points of inquiry for the officers I would go on to talk with.

“I drove away to get to safety and then rang 999. I told her what had happened and she reassured me four times that police were on the way to deal with the situation. I decided to go back to work. As I got out of my car, the group approached me again and the police were still nowhere to be seen. At this point, they grabbed objects such as a Costa chair which they threw across my body, I landed on the floor. No one in the public had helped me, which I was genuinely quite surprised about, I genuinely thought someone would come and help me.”

I was surprised too; hearing this I was shocked, I was stunned. In a society where gay rights are recognised as human rights, why had no one stepped in to defend Antony’s right to safety?

“I walked away into my work and they followed me in. They started throwing things at my manager who I had hidden behind for safety. Eventually, they left but it just goes to show the extent they would go to hurt me.”

And it did show. They had been relentless in their attack and i wanted to know if Antony had any thoughts on why they had gone so far to cause him damage.

“I personally think that it is deep-rooted insecurities that they have inside of them that make them feel compelled to attack people that go against societal norms. That’s my personal opinion and I’m pretty sure a lot of people would agree”

I was one of those people. I felt Antony’s conclusion reaffirmed what I had already suspected. However, I still wanted to hear from some more members of the public what their thoughts on homophobia were.

Interviewing Birmingham Pride

Some weeks later, I headed out to Birmingham Pride feeling hot-headed on my journey as I reflected on Antony’s story; I wanted to find out what the police were doing to help prevent and resolve hate crimes. I was hoping to get some transparent answers, not only for myself but for Antony too. I also wanted to find out if other members of the LGBTQ community had been experiencing higher levels of hate crime and what they thought the causes might be for the increase. My first point of call would be the Gay Village

Down the streets of the Gay Village during pride weekend, there was an all-encompassing feeling of freedom that turned my anger into joy. Busy commuters and irritable pedestrians had been swapped for carefree celebrators and vibrant dancers, frowning would’ve been sacrilegious. In high spirits, I decided to grab a drink at a bar crowded by joyful pride-goers.

After enjoying a cocktail in the lively bar, I made my way up to the smoking area in the hopes of getting above the infectious music enough to snatch a couple of interviews in the midst of the celebrations. I was in luck, with most of the action going on down on the streets, I was able to get talking to a group of young people who were happy to be recorded.

I enquired: Reports of Anti – LGBTQ hate crimes have doubled in the last five years. This year, the figure has increased by 32%, the biggest yearly increase to date. Do you feel like you have noticed the increase in your life?

Jesse: I don’t know if I have noticed the increase because when I was in sixth form a year ago, I would hear younger kids saying the F slur but now that I’ve left I don’t see it as much. Although, I do see it online.

Laura: People in my year group, when I came out, were accepting but it’s the younger generations, they’re more mouthy about it.”

Sam: I don’t get hate in real life but online it’s bad

I questioned: Do you feel like people might think it’s not acceptable to voice homophobic opinions in public but when they are behind a screen they feel it’s okay to do it then?

Laura: yeh definitely

Jesse: Yes, especially on TikTok

I asked: Only 14% of hate crimes that are reported to the police are resolved by the police force. Do you think that if you were a victim of a hate crime, you would go to the police or do you not think that would not help you?

Jesse: I think it depends on what kind of hate crime, if it was just words being used then maybe not but if it was physical then I would go to the police for that.

Laura: I agree but I also don’t think it would be as high up on the police’s priorities as other things

Sam: I agree

The main takeaways from my interview with Jesse, Laura, and Sam were that, like in Antony’s story, young teenagers had been identified as the main perpetrators of hate crimes. As Jesse highlighted how TikTok is often used as a platform for hate, I could understand how this had been the case as the platform, most popular amongst young teens, is infamous for its easily influenced algorithm that holds the power to indoctrinate audiences. I also left the interview reflecting on the group’s feelings toward the police, I got the sense that they felt overlooked by the police as members of the LGBTQ community, and i wanted to talk to some officers to hear what they had to say about the issue.

Talking With The Police Force

I spoke with P.C D. Murray on Birmingham’s busiest clubbing hot spot, Broad Street, to find out how the police were tackling LGBTQ hate crimes.

I asked P.C D. Murray: Anti-LGBTQ hate crime has increased by 32% this year, the largest increase since the record began, is this something that you have noticed in your job as a police officer?

P.C D.Murray: There’s a rise in a lot of crimes at the minute, it’s really difficult, we’re short on resources, to pick that out as an individual thing and say – that’s risen and I can see it – probably, yes but also maybe not because there is so much of so much going on right now.

I enquired: So, do you feel like, you are too under-resourced to deal with specific issues such as hate crime to the extent that you’d like?

P.C D. Murray: Yes, we need more staff and we need people with the same passion as us.

Talking with P.C. D. Murray, I saw that he wasn’t lacking concern for Anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, rather, the issue was that he and his team didn’t have the resources and funding to deal with the hate crimes properly. However, I still felt that, although P.C. D. Murray had concerns about the issue, the police force as an organization could be putting more emphasis on the scale of the issue in its operations.

Leaving pride, I reflected on the love and joy I had felt that day. It seemed unnatural that so many people could harbor hate toward such a loving community. When I thought about all the vibrant people I had met that day, I realised, at the biggest gay event of Birmingham’s year, that I had not met anyone with the intention to commit any Anti-LGBTQ hate crime. These homophobic individuals don’t want to be seen, they aren’t proud. There is no pride in hate. Behind screens and in violent mobs in car parks and dark alleys, there is insecurity and ignorance in hate. Everyone, whether you’re in the community or you stand as an ally, has a responsibility to spread understanding and love in hate’s face.

Feature image by Photo by 42 North via Pexels.