Hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community continue to rise year on year, figures show.
In Greater Manchester between 2020 and 2021, 1,461 hate crimes were recorded to have been due to sexual orientation, and 169 were recorded as a result people being transgender, according to Home Office statistics.
Nationally, over the past five years, those crimes against people in both the same categories have been dramatically increasing year on year, with the number more than doubling since 2015-2016 – data was not available from Greater Manchester Police during this period.
Bolton Pride Associate Director of Bolton Pride Rob Wright says that these numbers are likely to be much higher as many people feel as though reporting such hate crimes area a waste of time.
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“People think nothing gets done,” he said. “I know one person who was wating a week for police to get back to them about a hate crime and, I don’t want to put words in their mouth but, they felt as though it was being played down.”
Mr Wright was keen to encourage people to work with and place their trust in police so that collaboratively all parties can work towards a safer, more peaceful world.
He said: “There’s no point not reporting it to the police. It doesn’t help if people don’t report it.
“What we’ve got to remember is that there are plenty of gay or bi or trans people who are police officers, so one bad experience doesn’t represent the thousands of others that are good.”
He added: “On our website – pridebolton.co.uk – you’ll find a bit on the homepage where you can report a hate crime. It cuts out all the talk and barriers. People who want to report a hate crime don’t need all the jargon.”
With Pride Month 2022 drawing to a close, and Bolton Pride festival due to take place August 5 to 7, Mr Wright said it is as important as ever to highlight the issue facing those members of our society.
Mr Wright said: “This is exactly what Pride stands for. It’s a hate crime campaign, and this year marks 50 years.
“It’s about raising awareness, education, working together collaboratively and in unity. It’s about tomorrow’s world.
“We’d like to think that one day we won’t need Pride.”
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