Homophobic attacks up by a THIRD in London
Reports of homophobic crimes have surged by nearly a third in London in the past year, according to data from the Metropolitan police.
The data comes from the force’s latest annual crime figures – which allow types of reports to be broken down by borough and by crime type.
It shows that 1,667 homophobic offences took place in the 12 months to July 2015 – up from 1,289 in the 12 months to July 2014.
The shocking data – an increase of 29.3% year-on-year – may be partly down to better recording of hate crimes, though it does signify a worrying trend.
Racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic attacks all also saw a rise – though the number of homophobic incidents recorded was nearly double those of Islamophobic crimes, and three times the number of anti-Semitic crimes.
Three homophobic crimes were recorded in Heathrow Airport – which is recorded separately in the data.
The Met states: “A Homophobic Offence is any offence which is perceived to be homophobic by the victim or any other person, that is intended to impact upon those known or perceived to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual.”
It comes after a PinkNews YouGov poll found that compared to the rest of the UK, Londoners are over five times more likely to reject a gay or trans child.
13% of Londoners indicated they would not support their child if they were gay, while 20% indicated they would not support a trans child.
