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Read more...A violent attack on teenagers attending a Pride event is being investigated as a hate crime.
The BBC have reported that "Homophobic comments" were made by a group of youngsters and a person was punched and kicked, Staffordshire police said.
The incident occured in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday 15th June 2019 and it occured hortly after the annual festival for the LGBT community had finished.
A group of teenagers approached the friends, aged between 14 and 16, as they were leaving Pride shortly after 18:00 BST.
A 14-year-old girl, who identifies as bisexual, told StokeonTrentLive: "We'd had a great time at Pride then all of a sudden this group appeared and started chasing after the taxi. They pulled open the door and start attacking them.
"There were girls screaming at us. They told us to 'go kill yourselves' and said we should die. One of them shouted 'faggots'. I've had a few things said to me before but nothing like this. It was mainly girls but there were some boys too."
After four of the festival-goers got in to a taxi, the group chased the vehicle and shouted homophobic slurs, the teenager said, adding that when the vehicle stopped her friend was repeatedly punched in the face.
According to the BBC, although very shaken by the incident, the teenagers said they would not let it affect who they are.
"It is just going to make us strive more and make us want to be safer and keep Pride going and keep who we are out there," she said.
The incident took place outside a YMCA building and their CCTV had recorded what had happened. Staffordshire police have asked any witness to come forward and help with the ongoing investigation.
Carl Gratty, Stoke-on-Trent Pride chairman and event director, said he was "horrified" and "It is clear that Pride is still very much relevant and needed in Stoke-on-Trent," he added.
Similar hate related incidents took place at a recent 'Peace' event in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, when various reports were made as a result of verbal abuse that people experienced based on their sexual orientation. Other reports also made regarding people from an alternative subculture who were targetted at the Leamington Spa Peace event for the way they were dressed.
EQuIP, a pan-equalities charity based in Warwickshire support victims of hate crime and they strongly encourage anyone that experiences or witnesses any form hate crime to always report.
Victims and/or witnesses can ring 101 in a non-emergency situation, but always call 999 in an emergency.
In Warwickshire, some people that do not want to contact the police directly, so they can report hate crimes/incidents to EQuIP via the www.reporthatenow.com website, email: advice@equipequality.org.uk or if they prefer to speak to someone in person, you can contact telephone EQuIP on 01788 863117.