A 21-year-old gay man was left “covered in blood” after a “brutal” homophobic attack on Seel Street, Liverpool. According to the Liverpool Echo, Kolade Ladipo had been at Hangar34, a local music venue, before stopping by a kebab shop with friends at around 2.30 am. It was there that a man began harassing Ladipo with homophobic slurs, to which he responded “Yes I am”.
However, the man then became violent after being confronted by Ladipo’s friend: “He immediately felt threatened and he immediately turned to violence. He started pushing her.” The attacker’s friend then also began physically assaulting Ladipo and his friend. After the perpetrators ceased, Ladipo recalled saying: “‘Just because I’m gay, literally just because I’m gay’…Everyone could hear me. They could see me covered in blood. They could see it.”
He continued: “And it’s like, ‘I’m stood here covered in blood, screaming, ‘It’s because I’m gay’, and no one is coming to my aid. No one is saying anything. Everyone is just staring.” Liverpool has seen a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ violence during the past few months, with Reclaim Pride Liverpool saying: “Merseyside figures since 2014 have gone up over 943%, and we have seen a large spate of violet homophobic and transphobic attacks in the city over the past two months.”
It also noted the overall rise in hate crime across the UK: “Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime is out of control across the UK…It is becoming more scary and less safe to be out. One in five British LGBTQ+ people suffer hate crime every year.”
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