Lesbian couple receive ‘bizarre’ homophobic Christmas card
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A lesbian couple from Salford has opened up about their sadness and shock after they received a homophobic Christmas card from an anonymous person.
The card said: “Lesbian is disgusting & filth unnatural abnormal” along with the pre-filled message: “Blessings of the Season.”
The couple spoke to Manchester Evening News about the experience and chose to remain anonymous.
They explained that the card arrived by post on Christmas Eve to one of the women’s mother’s house.
The woman’s mother opened the card and was horrified to see the message inside. She then decided to hide the card from the couple until after Christmas as she didn’t want to upset them.
The woman’s mother finally told them about the card this weekend, according to Manchester Evening News.
Homophobic card was from an anonymous sender
The card was signed as being from the Methodist Church, however there is no name.
They have branded the card “creepy” and say they are confused as to why they have been targeted.
“We live in the 21st century – why do people still have a problem with two girls in a relationship?”
– Woman who received homophobic Christmas card
One of the women also said she was confused as to why the card had been sent to her mum’s address as she has her own house.
“I was really angry and got upset. We live in the 21st century – why do people still have a problem with two girls in a relationship? It’s absolutely brutal,” she told Manchester Evening News.
She also said that she was “upset to begin with” and that her fiancé, who is normally quiet, is “absolutely fuming.”
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The woman explained that she and her fiancé have experienced homophobic abuse in the past, but that the card is the worst.
The pair have previously had homophobic slurs used against them for holding hands in public.
She told the newspaper that they plan to report the bizarre and offensive card to the police.
Reporting homophobic hate crimes
A report last year found that police in England and Wales were not doing enough when it came to handling hate crimes.
The report said that the police force needed to tackle “significant problems” in the handling of hate crimes.
It concluded that the police’s response to 89 out of 180 hate crimes that were reported “wasn’t good enough.”
Meanwhile, the charity Why Me? Victims for Restorative Justice received £57,000 this week from the City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, to support LGBT+ victims of hate crimes.
The charity champions the idea of restorative justice, which allows victims of hate crimes the chance to meet their convicted offenders and explain the impact their actions had.
The charity said it helps arranging the meetings under “carefully managed conditions” and will use the funds to further develop the services dedicated to those in the LGBT+ community who have been victims of hate crime.
