In today’s Guardian there is a report on homophobic hate crimes in the UK. This makes the case fairly clearly:
The poll found a homophobic crime or incident had been experienced by 12.5% over the past year and 20% over the past three years.
One in six of the victims had been physically assaulted and one in eight had been subjected to unwanted sexual contact. Almost nine in 10 had experienced homophobic insults and harassment.
Three-quarters of the victims had not reported the incident to the police, often because they did not think the complaint would be investigated.
Only 1% of hate crimes that were reported to the police resulted in a conviction. Two-thirds of victims who reported incidents to the police were not offered advice or referred to support services.
A graphic demonstration, if ever we needed one, that simply having laws is not enough. Social attitudes, especially amongst members of the police, have to change too.
Reading stuff like this makes me feel sick to my stomach.
What I meant was- violence and hatred of that sort makes me ill. I can’t understand how people could cause pain to any other human being for just being different.
Paul:
Humans beings are often very frightened of difference, and that sometimes causes them to lash out. That’s something we always have to deal with. But it is something that we have of practice at dealing with.
I’m currently listening to a Congressional Hearing on the subject of transgender rights in the workplace. It is the first time that Congress has ever discussed such issues. One of the Congresswomen recently quoted Martin Luther King as follows:
“Laws cannot change people’s hearts, but they can restrain the heartless.”
That’s a very good plan. But it is a plan that will only work if those responsible for enforcing and enacting laws do their job. Which is why I get so frustrated hearing stories where those jobs don’t get done. That’s not just in the case of homophobic hate crimes. You hear the same story in a whole range of crimes, perhaps most glaringly in the case of rape. Thankfully there are people who are working to put things right. Pride will be part of that. I’m sure that the Met will have their own float, as they have in the past.