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Enough is enough: UK says no to homophobic hate
30 October 2009
Thousands of people will be coming together tonight in Liverpool and Manchester to say no to homophobic hate.
On Sunday October 25, 22 year old gay trainee police officer James Parkes was the victim of a brutal homophobic attack on Stanley Street in the heart of Liverpool's gay quarter. It left him with multiple skull fractures, a fractured eye socket and a fractured cheek bone.
Tonight (Friday 30 October) a team of volunteers and staff from North West charity The Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF), along with Liverpool's Armistead Centre and Merseyside Police will be going into Liverpool's gay quarter to reassure the community after the attack and talk about the importance of personal and community safety.
The LGF will be distributing copies of their new personal safety resource for LGB&T people - Enough is Enough! Say no to homophobic hate crime, which includes practical tips on personal safety, information on how you report a hate crime, and LGB&T organisations that act as third party hate crime reporting centres.
On the same night, another LGF team will be heading out into Manchester's Gay Village to distribute the resource and chat to the public about personal safety and reporting homophobia.
There will also be a two-minute silence at Taurus Bar on Canal Street, coinciding with a candlelit vigil in London's Trafalgar Square in memory of Ian Baynham, 62, who died as a result of fatal head injuries sustained after a homophobic attack there in September.
LGF's Chief Executive Paul Martin said: "We have to wake up to homophobic hate crime. How many more attacks do there have to be before this issue is taken seriously? We must work together to encourage everyone to be vigilant and report hate crimes and incidents, as there has to be an absolute zero tolerance to homophobia wherever it occurs.
"Yet again the perpetrators of these attacks are of school age or have recently left school. What message is being sent to them that it is acceptable to attack others because they may be different? Crimes of this type are being brought to our attention more frequently than ever before, and we have to work together to eradicate homophobia once and for all from our society."
For more information: www.lgf.org.uk
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