Man stabbed outside of queer bar in ‘targeted’ attack as violence in Britain surges
(Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
A queer bar in southern Yorkshire, England, heaved with violence after a man was stabbed outside in a “targeted” attack”.
South Yorkshire Police said emergency services were called in the early hours of Thursday (10 March) to the Queer Junction, in the heart of Sheffield’s gay quarter.
Following a scuffle outside the nightclub, first-responders rushed to the scene at 4:38am, according to local newspaper The Star.
A 35-year-old man was found seriously injured and sped to the hospital where he is currently in stable condition. The force said he had been attacked in what was described as a “targeted attack”.
It’s an incident that has raised fears of a relentless wave of homophobia pelting the city, with neighbouring queer nightclub owners slamming local law enforcement amid six years of rising crime against their staff.
“Quite simply you have let the LGBTQ+ community down and have allowed the criminal fraternity to prosper,” wrote Dempseys Bar and Club owners Colin Humphreys and Keiron Lowry in a letter to chief constable Lauren Poultney.
“It is now commonplace for staff and customers to suffer homophobic abuse and threats of violence. This happens on an almost nightly basis but our appeals for help go unheeded.
“I’m really angry,” Humphreys added, “a lot of problems like this could be stopped if there was a police presence.”
In response, Poultney outlined plans to improve surveillance footage in the area and increase officer numbers by the club.
“I am concerned about a number of issues Mr Humphreys and Mr Lowry raise in their letter and I will ensure we make contact with them to discuss these in more detail, prior to them being investigated.
She added: “We do already have the venue factored in to our patrol plans with a view to preventing crime in the city centre in addition to ensuring the door staff feel more supported and there is an increased officer presence at the venue.
“We are committed to working with all our licensed premises in Sheffield, including Dempseys, to provide a safe and welcoming nighttime economy.”
Sheffield is no outlier in this. Across Britain, anti-LGBT+ hate crime has surged, with at least 19,679 crimes motivated by hatred for someone’s sexual orientation recorded between 2020 and 2021, according to data from the authorities.
Overall, reports of LGBT+ hate crimes rocketed by 210 per cent between 2014 and 2021.
The true tally is likely to be even higher, considering that nine in 10 LGBT+ victims do not report hate crimes to the police, government figures suggest.
