Anti-LGB&T behaviour & incidents

This important section of the Network website contains important information as your one-stop resource on understand about anti-LGB&T prejudice, discrimination and hate crime.  As such it is mainly for the benefit of our community members when they face such negative harmful experiences and crimes, but also for others to, including organisations and businesses.

Information sections of this page:

  • Where to report incidents and experiences
  • How the Network can help
  • Recognising/understanding about anti-LGB&T prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime, and more about how the Network works for You
  • Citizens Advice Bureau information on anti-LGB&T prejudice and discrimination (signs/recognising, and what you can do)
  • Police ‘True Vision: Report  it’ website information (includes link to App)

Where to report:
  • By contacting the LGB&T Dorset Equality Network
  • Dorset Police
  • Local council Anti-Social Behaviour Officers, Community Development and Equality Officers

Other:

  • Dorset Wiltshire Fire and Rescue
  • Equality officers (large organisations & businesses)
  • Customer services (large organisations & businesses)
  • HR (Human Resources) leads (large organisations & businesses)

Dorset Police – Report it website: http://www.report-t.org.uk/homophobic_and_transphobic_hate_crime (includes link to download the police hate crime act: Report It website information is provided at the end of this page.

The local council for example will have more responsibility for the context location involved, whereas the police have an apprehending and dealing with crime remit; beyond these reporting and sharing experiences in regard to businesses and other public service organisations (NHS + education, etc.) can be assisted by contacting the Network.


Network help with reporting & sharing experiences of discrimination and reporting prejudice & hate crime:

The Network is available to be your main one-stop contact for reporting and sharing experiences of prejudice, discrimination and hate crime.

The Network fulfils three roles in regard to actual discrimination, prejudice and hate crime reporting:

  • It helps directly with enabling the community member or LGB&T ally sharing details of an experience or incident
  • It fulfils a witnessing and background support role to those submitting their experiences to form the basis of formal reports to the given agency. If nothing appears to be done or result from making a report, the Network can with the authority and at the request of the given community member concerned, make representations
  • In some cases it can, if you provide written authorisation, directly represent you

It also believes that reporting can be a pro-active rather than solely reactive, step.  That whilst the police are the principal agency to report hate crime to, local authority ASB officers have a complementary role to play, and that organisation or business HR leads, equality managers, and heads of customer service all have importance in regard to reporting.

This last category of local authority or public service senior officers have even greater strategic level and ‘counteracting and opposing’ roles importance and outreach where bringing about change is concerned.

This approach is unique, and involves reporting to not simply being a matter of providing information to the police, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) then taking action on prosecution or sentence ‘uplift.’

The role of educating and auditing of performance and assessment of strategic approaches of organisations or businesses to anti-LGB&T behaviour and views, is more important than standalone E&D training in tackling causative factors of these latter.  We can assist in making representations to the given organisation or business if it is found it is ineffective or disinterested in taking action on prejudice, discrimination or hate crime.

The Network in some cases can, if you provide written authorisation, make representation on your behalf where you are not sure or confident on making a complaint or representation on a prejudice hate crime or discrimination experience.

The Network approach to reporting abuse and exploitation-abuse again focuses on causative factors, including particularly ineffectual challenging of the latter, to bring about meaningful change.   Similarly, with domestic violence and domestic abuse.

You can also contact the Network before submitting a complaint or reporting an incident. We can help advise you if you are thinking of reporting (including non-LGB&T people/’allies’ who may be aware of an incident or perceived anti-LGB&T discrimination or prejudice) an experience or incident.

Don’t forget, this is worth doing to protect others who may also be suffering as much or more than yourself, needlessly in silence.

The LGB&T Dorset Network believes nobody should be subject to unchallenged, unreported prejudice, discrimination and hate crime.  We exist to support all LGB&T people who encounter these three needless evils, which blight lives and cause very real mental ill-health and in some cases suicide and suicidal thought.


Recognising/understanding about anti-LGB&T prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime, and more about how the Network works for You:

In Bournemouth Dorset & Poole rates of reporting anti-LGB&T prejudice, discrimination and hate crime are poor — and contrast with the regulatory of community members sharing negative experience — leaving sufferers in misery, and those afflicting them free to harm.

Not knowing what exactly discrimination, prejudice and hate crime is, combined with pessimism about the value of taking action/speaking up/whistle-blowing, and not knowing how to take the step to report/record incidents/experiences, caused this poor record.

Crucial to reporting, speaking up about homophobia, bi-phobia, and transphobia are knowing what it actually looks and feels like to experience. 

It is all of the following (and of course sadly, much more):

  • Psychological abuse (this includes anti-LGB&T indoctrination-abuse of children & youth in some faith schools)
  • Homophobes (with self-confessed, or in the honest about being homophobic ‘closet’) being unhelpful, deliberately not appearing to hear questions, etc. from self-identifying LGB&T’s; making rude or flippant replies, etc.
  • Name calling, unpleasant remarks (including so-called ‘banter’) and anti-LGB&T gestures and behaviour
  • Are you being made to feel low/low mood in yourself, fearful, unhappy, unsafe, have disrupted sleep and poor concentration because of behaviour you are experiencing from those who socially and emotionally inadequate in the face of diversity and individuality
  • Being unhelpful on requests for those who are ‘Out’ or perceived to be LGB&T
  • For example, a homophobic doctor could suggest to a patient they know to be gay, that they should take an HIV test, even though help on a stomach complaint was the issue involved, etc.
  • Readiness of Home Office immigration officers to send international LGB&Ts into life threatening contexts, ignoring their LGB&T British partners human rights (advising de facto forced emigration from the UK for the latter or to break up with their international partner): use of inappropriate flippant language in official communications, etc.

Other signs of anti-LGB&T perspectives from those who don’t openly state they are homophobic, bi-phobic, transphobic:

  • Is anyone aware of the negative mental and physical effects on you? If so, have they offered support or signposting to those who could help?
  • Are you connected with for example a culture or a religion (church, etc.) followed by family and friends, that is not LGB&T-friendly, or could be often openly homophobic/bi-phobic/transphobic?
  • Are you made to feel ‘different’ and of less value than others because perceived to be or openly LGB or T? You don’t need to be called names to be a victim of LGB&T prejudice behaviour.
  • Any public signs of affection between same-sex couples (a basic expression of the right to family life) being not able to be made due to fears of ostracism or attack
  • The Network reported a Christmas incident of mass ostracism taking place in a central Dorset town, whilst a former mayor in another, south Dorset town revealed being okay with LGBT rights so long as they don’t show they are gay, in public …….

More information on prejudice, discrimination and hate crime …….

Surreptitious [not openly stated in offensive terms], insidious, de facto homophobia, bi-phobia, and transphobia, is still very prevalent.

This type of subliminal by-default prejudice and discrimination can still be found quite commonly in institutional and public services settings (NHS, some Home Office contexts, etc.):

What does it look like, and feel like?  It feels and looks like and IS coldness, indifference, being made to feel unwelcome, undesirable, different and estranged when either wanting to report unfairness or unpleasantness in the service one has received because one doesn’t conform in some way to heterosexist or binary ‘norms’ (yes, you don’t have to be publicly Out to be made to suffer by the ignorant and prejudiced) or because you wish to report that you feel you have been treated in a discriminatory (less than fair and professional, friendly and polite) way in accessing, seeking to access, or receiving some service,

The Network believes that having an equality & anti-discrimination policy, based on mandatory requirements enunciated in the Equality Act 2010, without accompanying anti-prejudice & discrimination education of staff (especially frontline) of public services and businesses, is meaningless, a PR ‘tick box’ and therefore disingenuous.

This is still all too common, and the Network exists to challenge it to help those LGB&T community members who get disappointed and understandably mislead where public service organisations and businesses have this tokenistic approach to counteracting prejudice and discrimination is found, but to help those organisations and businesses too, to move forward in regard to meaningful actions to ensure they are fully inclusive and prejudice free (acknowledging that prejudice and discrimination can be subtle and of a by default kind rather than explicitly overt).

The Network also works to press for change through effective representation via prejudice/discrimination policy advocacy where an organisation or business demonstrates a particular record of indifference & bad practice, or best practice.  We carry out research and then create a final report and recommendations for the organisation or business, to work with either of the latter, including publicising if a best practice example, and alerting the community and concerned authorities if a bad practice example, as the Network considers it more important to protect/warn those who could become victims of an anti-LGBT employer, business, service provider, than to take no action.


Citizens Advice Bureau information on anti-LGB&T prejudice and discrimination (signs/recognising, and what you can do):

Discrimination because of sexual orientation – Citizens Advice

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/discrimination-because-of-sex-or-sexual-orientation/discrimination-because-of-sexual-orientation/

Comprehensive information from the CAB on discrimination, prejudice and sexual orientation:

Thematic headings:

 

Sexual orientation and transgender identity hate crime – Citizens Advice

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/hate-crime/sexual-orientation-and-transgender-identity-hate-crime/

If someone has been violent or hostile towards you because of your sexual orientation, this is known as a homophobic hate incident.

Hostile or violent incidents because of your transgender identity are known as transphobic hate incidents.

Hate incidents can happen anywhere. Sometimes you may know the person who attacked you, but often hate incidents are carried out by strangers.

Read this page to find out more about homophobic or transphobic hate crime and incidents and what you can do about it.

Discrimination at work – bullying and harassment – Citizens Advice

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/discrimination-at-work/common-situations/discrimination-at-work-bullying-and-harassment/

If you’re bullied at work or your colleagues behave in an offensive or intimidating way towards you, it could be unlawful harassment under the Equality Act 2010. Harassment is a form of discrimination under the Act.

Read this page to find out more about harassment at work and what you can do about it.

Indirect discrimination – Citizens Advice

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/what-are-the-different-types-of-discrimination/indirect-discrimination/

Sometimes discrimination can be easy to spot – for example, if a hotel turns you away because you’re gay. This is called direct discrimination. This is when you’re treated differently simply because of who you are.

But there are other times when you may be treated in the same way as everybody else, but it has a different and worse effect on you because of who you are. This is also discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 calls this indirect discrimination.


True Vision -Report it information:

What is homophobic and transphobic hate crime?

Hate crimes and incidents are any crime or incident which is targeted at a victim because of the offender’s hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people.

So any incident or crime, which is perceived to be motivated because of a person’s sexual orientation or transgender identity – either their actual sexual orientation or gender identity or as perceived by the offender – will be recorded as such. Hate crimes can be committed against a person or property.

A homophobic hate crime is:

“Any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation.”

A transphobic hate crime is:

“Any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.”

 

You can also see our definition of hate crime on the Hate Crime Data page of this website.

 

 

How can I report an incident?

Details on how to report an incident and what you can report is available on the ‘Report a hate crime’ page. You can use a self reporting form or complete the online form on the ‘Reporting online’ page. You may also be able to report incidents through the organisations listed on this website on the ‘Organisations that can help’ page.

By reporting it, you may be able to prevent these incidents from happening to someone else.

Reporting makes a difference…to you, your friends, your community and your life.

 

How will the Police and CPS treat Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crime?

The Police and other criminal justice agencies consider all hate crime to be very serious, including homophobic and transphobic hate crime. When a case is prosecuted, the courts can impose a stronger sentence under powers from the Criminal Justice Act. This reflects the priority placed on these crimes. The Police have performance targets and measures in place to ensure the service they offer is of the highest standard.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the organisation that takes cases through the court system. They have produced guidance on Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crime that is available on the ‘Prosecuting hate crimes’ page of this website (opens in new window).