Stop the Hate campaign sees 1000+ constituents email MPs about rising hate crimes

In the wake of an exceptionally rough few weeks for LGBTQ+ people in Britain, Stonewall’s Stop The Hate campaign has seen over 1,000 people call on their MPs to make a change.

The campaign encourages LGBTQ+ people and allies to demand that their MPs speak up for the community at an upcoming Westminster Hall debate on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime.

Set up by the LGBTQ+ rights organisation, the Stop the Hate campaign is inspired by recent statistics released by the Home Office which revealed that hate crime against LGBTQ+ people is rising sharply in England and Wales, and a lack of protection from the government could be to blame.

According to the statistics, released earlier this month, hate crimes based on sexual identity have escalated by 112 per cent in the past five years, while hate crimes against trans people have risen by 186 per cent in the same amount of time.

Accompanying the devastating stats was a briefing from the Home Office confirming that transgender issues, in particular, have been “heavily discussed by politicians, the media, and on social media” over the last year, which it said, “may have led to an increase in these offences.”

It added that the government’s focus on transgender issues could also have led to “more awareness in the police in the identification and recording of these crimes.”

This acknowledgment that the government could be at least partially to blame for a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime came shortly after some particularly devastating homophobic and transphobic comments were proudly broadcasted by a number of leading Tory politicians, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Sunak devastated a large portion of the British population and a number of his own party members last week when he proudly declared that British people were being “bullied” into believing people “can be any sex they want to be,” and that it was “just common sense” to believe that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman.”

Similarly, Home Secretary infuriated over 200 human rights organisations and LGBTQ+ groups and allies with troubling claims that LGBTQ+ people were misusing their identities or lying to claim asylum in the UK.

The Home Secretary was also eager to back up Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s suggestion that transgender women “have no place” in women’s hospital wards.

Now, Stonewall is leading the call for MPs to do the right thing and challenge the government to do better.

“Behind these shocking figures are real lives,” a statement from the LGBTQ+ organisation reads.

“LGBTQ+ people whose wellbeing and sense of freedom are being impacted by acts of violence, harassment and abuse. 

“And it’s likely that this is only the tip of the iceberg, with the government’s own statistics indicating fewer than one in ten LGBTQ+ people report hate crimes or incidents.

“Screeching headlines, fearmongering, and toxic ‘debate’ – it’s no surprise that hate crime is on the rise when LGBTQ+ people are being used as a political football.

“It’s time for MPs to take action to stop the rising hate and challenge the UK Government to do better. LGBTQ+ people belong here.”

At the time of writing, over 1,300 constituents have written to their local MP to ask them to speak up at the upcoming Westminster Hall debate on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime debate on Wednesday 18 October.

The LGBTQ+ rights group is hoping to boost that number to at least 3,000 before the day of the debate.You can contribute to the cause and email your local MP here.