LGBTQ+ and disability hate crimes to become aggravated offences in new UK law
LGBTQ+ and disability hate crimes could become aggravated (Canva)
Hate crimes targeting people on the grounds of their sexuality, gender identity or disability would be made an aggravated offence, under a proposed new law.
If passed, an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would see hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ and disabled people brought in-line with racially and religiously aggravated hate crimes, meaning they too will carry a higher maximum sentencing penalty.
The bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords and is intended to tackle anti-social behaviour alongside crimes including offensive weapons, sexual offences and stalking and public order.
Stonewall CEO Simon Blake described the amendment a “major step in the journey of LGBTQ+ equality”.
“Putting hate crime against LGBTQ+ people on the same footing as religious and racial hate crime has always been the right thing to do. It sends a powerful message that LGBTQ+ people deserve equal access to justice,” Blake said.
“Stonewall, and others, have campaigned hard for this change for many years; and we welcome that the Government is delivering on a manifesto commitment for LGBTQ+ people at a time when many in the community are feeling increasingly under threat.”
He added: “Now that this amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill has been laid, Stonewall will continue to work hard with Government and Parliamentarians to make sure this vital change becomes law.”
LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop described it as a “landmark step” towards increasing access to criminal justice for LGBTQ+ and disabled people.
Jasmine O’Connor, co-chief executive of Galop, said: “At a time when our services are seeing consistent rises in LGBT+ hate crime victims seeking support, this long-overdue change sends a clear message that anti-LGBT+ hate crime is as deserving of justice as crimes motivated by religious or racial hate.”
Home Office data shows that in the year ending March 2025, there were a total of 137,550 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales.
In the 2024/25 year, there were 18,702 hate crimes targeting people on the basis of their sexual orientation and 3,809 targeting trans people because of their gender identity, decreases on 2023/24 by two and 11 per cent respectively.
In terms of disability hate crime, there were 10,224 incidents recorded in 2024/25 compared with 11,131 recorded in 2023/24.
However, these figures are all higher than five years ago in 2020/21 when there were 15,668 sexual orientation hate crimes, 2,510 related to gender identity and 9,418 in relation to disability.
