XPost: talk.rape, talk.religion.newage, talk.politics.european-union   
   From: sexual.deviants@splcenter.org   
      
   Fifty years ago, gay sex between men in private was   
   decriminalised in England and Wales. Despite this, hate crimes   
   against gay people have persisted, and the number of attacks   
   recorded by police has been rising. There were 7,194 in England   
   and Wales in the year to April 2016. Campaigners say this isn't   
   the full picture, though, as many victims still don't report   
   assaults. Six people affected by hate crimes share their stories.   
      
   Warning: This story contains details of violence and images   
   which some readers might find upsetting.   
      
   James and Dain were enjoying a night out together in Brighton in   
   May 2016 when they were followed out of a nightclub and attacked   
   on the seafront. The assault has left physical and emotional   
   scars.   
      
   James: We were at the bar and we got this look from a couple of   
   guys from across the dance floor. It takes a lot to make me feel   
   uncomfortable but it was just such a weird look they gave us.   
   Dain had his arm around me. I don't think they liked that.   
      
   Then they started shouting at us. I told Dain we needed to get   
   out of the club into a taxi the quickest way possible.   
      
   Dain: We left the bar. No-one was about. All of a sudden I heard   
   running behind us. There was no way we were going to outrun   
   them. They grabbed us from behind and chucked us to the floor. I   
   was lying on the pavement and all I could see was James but the   
   next thing I saw was a shoe coming towards my face. That knocked   
   me completely unconscious.   
      
   James: One of the boys started kicking Dain's face really   
   rapidly. There was a lot of aggression and shouting of "gay   
   boys".   
      
   Every time I tried to crawl closer to Dain, I was dragged along   
   the pavement. At that point, a taxi drove past and called the   
   police. I remember standing up for the first time and Dain   
   looked at me and said, "I can't see."   
      
   Dain: My eye socket was completely shattered. I had haemorrhages   
   in both my eyes and fractures on my cheeks. My tooth was chipped   
   and my nose was broken as well. I remember being in hospital and   
   kept asking, "Am I going to be able to see again?"   
      
   They said, "We can't tell you because everything is so swollen."   
   They couldn't even open my eyes.   
      
   James and I were very close anyway but spending that much time   
   with each other really proved to me how strong our relationship   
   is. I'm a very resilient person and I'm not going to live my   
   life how someone else wants me to. I'm not going to let anyone   
   change that. If anything, this has made me want to be who I am   
   even more.   
      
   James: It's made him stronger and it's made him not care about   
   what other people think and to go out there and be himself even   
   more, whereas it's done the opposite to me. It's changed me.   
   I've changed my thought process and mindset, how I think, how I   
   look, how I speak, who I'm with, where we go and it's sad   
   because I remember how we were before it happened and I look at   
   us now and it's upsetting because it's them who made this   
   happen. That's what's hard to accept.   
      
   It's a year since it happened and I thought things would   
   probably get easier but they haven't. When we're out and about   
   he wants us to look like we're together obviously but I'm scared   
   of something similar happening again. It wasn't like that a year   
   ago. We didn't go down the street holding hands but I wasn't   
   fully aware of us making sure that we weren't seen as a couple.   
      
   I couldn't ever forgive the people who attacked us or forget   
   what happened. It will stay with me and I'm sure it will stay   
   with them for the rest of their lives.   
      
   Both attackers, Gage Vye-Parminter and Matthew Howes, pleaded   
   guilty to grievous bodily harm and assault and were sentenced to   
   seven years in prison.   
      
   http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40643461   
           
      
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