Incidents against lesbian, gay, bisexual people or transgender people have been under-reported and even more rarely prosecuted. Research studies suggest that victims of, or witnesses to, such incidents have very little confidence in the criminal justice system.
- Citizens Advice on Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crime. Citizens Advice provides further information on homophobic and transphobic hate crime
- CPS policy on Prosecuting Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crimes. The Crown Prosecuting Service sets out their policy and provides further information.
Transphobia
Transgender hate crimes and incidents are acts which target a victim because of an offender's hostility to a transgender person or to transgender people in general.
Transgender hate crimes and incidents are acts which target a victim because of an offender's hostility to a transgender person or to transgender people in general.
Any incident or crime which is perceived by the victim to be motivated by hostility to transgender people should be reported, either to the University, the police, or both.
Hate crimes can be committed against a person or property.
A transgender hate crime could target someone who is not themselves transgender and the harmed person could be, for example, the child of a transgender person or someone mistaken as being transgender, so long as the offender was motivated, wholly or partially, by a hostility to transgender people.
What might transphobia look like?
What might transphobia look like?
- Misgendering someone deliberately or repeatedly (i.e. using the wrong name and/or pronouns to describe a person, referring to them using the wrong gender). For example, referring to a trans man as ‘she’, or refusing to use ‘they/them’ to refer to a non-binary person who has specified they use those pronouns.
- Refusing a trans person access to services or facilities appropriate to their gender identity (e.g. not letting a trans woman use a woman’s bathroom). This is also a form of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
- Suggesting that a trans woman/man is not a ‘real’ woman/man.
- Saying ‘oh you don’t look trans’ or ‘you can’t tell that you’re trans’ as though it is a compliment. This is based on the misconception that all transgender people are somehow visibly trans, or that all transgender people look the same. It is also implying that being trans is somehow shameful, and that the ultimate aim should be for a trans person to look ‘not trans’ and to conform to gender norms and expectations of beauty.
Homophobia
Homophobic hate crimes and incidents are acts which target a victim because of an offender's fear or dislike of someone based on their prejudice or negative attitudes, beliefs or views about lesbian, gay or bi people. Homophobic bullying may be targeted at people who are, or who are perceived to be, lesbian, gay or bi.
Any incident or crime which is perceived by the victim to be motivated by hostility to lesbian, gay or bi people should be reported, either to the University, the police, or both.
Homophobic hate crimes and incidents are acts which target a victim because of an offender's fear or dislike of someone based on their prejudice or negative attitudes, beliefs or views about lesbian, gay or bi people. Homophobic bullying may be targeted at people who are, or who are perceived to be, lesbian, gay or bi.
Any incident or crime which is perceived by the victim to be motivated by hostility to lesbian, gay or bi people should be reported, either to the University, the police, or both.
Hate crimes can be committed against a person or property.
What might homophobia look like?
- ‘Joking’ that something (an action, an item, a person) perceived to be negative in some way is ‘gay’ (e.g. ‘that’s so gay’).
- Someone complementing another person of the same gender and then assuring them that ‘don’t worry, I’m not gay’, implying that that would be negative/bad.
- Assuming that someone is in a heterosexual relationship (e.g. asking a woman ‘so do you have a boyfriend/husband?’) is an example of a heteronormative stereotype.
- ‘Oh, you don’t look like you’re gay/a lesbian/bi/queer’ – this is based on damaging stereotypes about LGBTQA+ people, and wrongly implies you can ‘tell’ someone’s sexual orientation by their appearance.
- Suggesting LGBTQA+ people are sexually ‘deviant’ or dangerous based on or because of their sexual orientation or gender identity