DO MORE AND DO IT BETTER

By Craig Hanlon-Smith

Josh Ormrod, aged 19, was one of several men who in the month of June were assaulted in so-called ‘homophobic’ associated vicious and unprovoked beatings in the city of Liverpool, England.

Curtis Stewart had his face fractured, Greg Hewitt his leg, and Tyler Jones alongside his boyfriend beaten while held at knifepoint.

All assaults were accompanied with language which clearly defined these assaults as anti-gay/ LGBTQ+ infused. I am struck by the bravery of these men to speak out on social media and to give interviews to BBC Newsbeat to spread their story, and also by their seeming need to apologise for doing so.

Josh states “this isn’t about me. I wasn’t sharing this for my own gain”, Curtis: “I wasn’t going to post about this… but since the police can’t/aren’t doing anything about it…”, and Tyler begins his post by stating “this is difficult for me to share but awareness needs to be raised”.

These were separate assaults on different days and at different times, some in broad daylight in busy central city areas. These attackers were not afraid and therefore I will step away from using the term ‘homophobia’ to describe them. These assaults and the sharing of their experience by those who were attacked has resulted in an impromptu Pride march in the city to protest about safety for LGBTQ+ people, but this is not an issue which is limited to Liverpool.

Recently, in Hungary the government introduced legislation which prevents ‘promotion’ of LGBTQ+ lifestyles to people under the age of 18 and Hungary is an EU state. The Hungarian PM Viktor Orban is also the only EU leader post-Brexit to have, thus far, been invited to Downing Street for an audience with Boris Johnson.

At the same time some gay and bisexual young men were getting the s*** kicked out of them in Liverpool, the Euro football tournament ploughed on. The mayor of Munich asked UEFA if his stadium could be lit up in rainbow colours for the Germany/ Hungary game to show solidarity with young LGBTQ+ people across Europe. Despite adorning their online logos in LGBTQ+ colours for the June month of Pride, UEFA said ‘no’ on account of this being seen as a political act. Germany responded by illuminating all its other stadia in the colours of the rainbow and a wind-turbine next to the one in Munich.

Following the match, which saw both teams qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition, Angela Merkel posted an open letter signed by 16 EU leaders which read:

“We must continue fighting against discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community, reaffirming our defence of their fundamental rights. Respect and tolerance are at the core of the European project. We are committed to carry on with this effort, making sure that future European generations grow up in an atmosphere of equality and respect.”

Of course this letter is not signed by the UK PM as we are no longer part of the European project with respect and tolerance at its core. Nor did the UK government or associated minister make a statement about the UEFA/rainbow discussion. There has not been a statement from a minister about the violence inflicted upon these gay, bisexual or hetero non-confirming young men, nor has this torrent of violence been reported in the mainstream media. Interviews shared by the BBC were limited to Newsbeat – its Radio 1-connected youth wing. This will not come as a surprise to anyone who remembers the spate of attacks in the St James’ Street area of Brighton two years ago. Despite affecting dozens of local men, some of whom were hospitalised, these stories did not make the national news.

So why now? Without a decade of well-funded research it would be naive of me to suggest these assaults are linked in any way to a football tournament, even if one of the most unpleasant experiences I remember in recent years was in Brighton during the World Cup in 2018, And FYI England was at that stage, winning. However, let us look momentarily at the circumstantial evidence.

The lid is off. Parents are not allowed to attend their children’s sports days this year on account of Covid, but the marauding masses can travel from all parts of the United Kingdom to get s***-faced in a square, hug and swallow their mates’ spittle in the name of football. Drink, lots of it. More drink. We’re winning (mostly) so cue lots of gorilla chest beating and surges of real man testosterone. We are fast emerging as a culture of blame, my impoverishment is because of the other.

“Gay and bisexual men, or individuals who present as men to the external eye but who do not necessarily gender conform to a stereotype of mankind, are five times more likely to be physically assaulted than other members of LGBTQ+ communities”

We began by blaming EU citizens for our troubles, immigrants, now the term ‘white-privilege’ and once the finger pointing starts, it is to all who are not the massive. All those who were recently assaulted in Liverpool sought to seek an apology for sharing their stories. They also do not conform to a heteronormative ideal. Gay and bisexual men, or individuals who present as men to the external eye but who do not necessarily gender conform to a stereotype of mankind, are five times more likely to be physically assaulted than other members of LGBTQ+ communities. A 2020 study carried out by New York University across 23 countries including Western democracies, concluded that gay men were more likely to be subject to behaviours associated with a ‘dislike’ than gay women. In every country that was tested.

Josh, Curtis, Greg and Tyler, I thank you for sharing your stories and your bravery in doing so. I am so saddened that you were subjected to physical harm because of how you present, behave or look in the name of your sexual identity, physical attraction and love. There are people who are with you every step on your journey and yet, we must do more and we must do it better.