A gay couple have told of their constant struggle with homophobia in Haringey.
Teacher Siobhan Wesley and her partner, charity worker Patricia Macleod, say they are subjected to threatening sexual and homophobic abuse in public on an almost daily basis.By…whom?
Ms Wesley, 29, said: “All the time this happens, we’re just walking along the street and we get people yelling sexual insults at us, men shouting what they’d like us to do to them and people just screaming ‘lezzers’ at us.”Old met, short men, fat men, white men? Predominantly one type, or a varied selection?
Surely it’d help to know?
Ms Wesley said : “There’s a really nice community feel in Green Lanes, it’s one of the things we love most about Haringey.
“We feel that more could be done to educate both schoolchildren and adults about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and communities.
“For adults particularly, making them aware that queer people exist in this area, that it’s completely normal and that the comments they make are offensive and against the law is vital.
“We’re grateful for the existing support structures in place but if these things are still happening, this regularly, then more needs to be done.”Oh, of course. Education, education, education, eh ladies? Sheep-dip the entire population of Haringey…
*Homophobic Mostly Men Of No Appearance
There really is a massive elephant in the room when it comes to identifying the main perpetrators of homophobia.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those HMMONA are men of the Bearded Savage variety and that is why there is no accurate or usable description of those responsible? The Green Lane area of London and its surrounds does have a lot of said Bearded Savages so it is quite possible.
ReplyDeleteI despise LGBT people who get hassle from Bearded Savages but who are too cowardly to say that they've had hassle from Bearded Savages. It's cowardly and puts other LGBT people at risk. If there is a problem then there is a moral duty to name that problem and political correctness be damned.
So how do you suppose the local "Community" found out they were a couple of "Lezzers"?
ReplyDeleteCould it possibly be that they go out of their way to provoke a reaction, and they don't like the reaction they receive?
It can't be just because they're just a couple of women sharing a flat, as in my younger days, I used to share flats with other men. I can't think of any occasion that anyone assumed that we were a pair of poofters. But then again, we didn't take any opportunity to tongue one another or act like Julian Cleary in public (Or private come to that...).
Maybe there is a nice community feel there and that community does like their type.
ReplyDeleteObviously they must be forced into giving these homos flowers every time they pass them.
Bring on the cattle prods.
I seriously doubt people yell lezzies as they walk by.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if their abusers are the same demographic who are causing the apparent rise in antisemitism. Certainly the antisemites characteristics aren't usually identified in places like The Guardian which wouldn't be so coy if they could get away with blaming the average Briton.
ReplyDeleteBudvar, that may or may not be the case. However, it only takes a gay person to make the mistake of telling one person who is a gossip or be seen going into or talking about a gay venue or even buying a gay magazine in a Bearded Savage shop for their sexuality status to get out.
ReplyDeleteThey could be attention seekers but it must remembered that there are an awful lot of lazy hate filled Somalis,Pakistanis, Turks and other assorted Islamics and members of such groups are not exactly enamoured of LGB people or women or even British law.
While hassling someone based on their sexual preference is wrong,a couple of things come to mind: Since they can't seem to identify anyone in particular, maybe they realize they are NOT normal, and therefore are overly sensitive? A look they catch because they are walking where someone is looking is not the same as staring at them yelling "Faggot" or whatever. Second, LBGTFOAD1234!$%^ people. no matter what they want to say, are NOT mathematically normal, and when one blatantly behaves in a way that is designed to attract attention to ones sexual preference, then one will have people making fun of them. TOughen up and move on.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I can't fathom is that we are told there is this constant torrent of abuse of women, but I never seem to see any of it. I used to live in vibrant Finsbury Park, we used to shop at Sainsburys in Green Lanes. I've lived in a lot of London boroughs. I'm not saying there isn't any of this, but the reportage seems very disproportionate to my own experience of Landan Street Loif, such as it was.
ReplyDeleteAnd, "Lezzers"?
"There really is a massive elephant in the room when it comes to identifying the main perpetrators of homophobia."
ReplyDeleteAnd it's 'Elephas maxima' rather than 'Loxodonta africana'...
"I despise LGBT people who get hassle from Bearded Savages but who are too cowardly to say that they've had hassle from Bearded Savages. "
Ditto!
"So how do you suppose the local "Community" found out they were a couple of "Lezzers"?"
It could simply be them kissing in public?
"The thing I can't fathom is that we are told there is this constant torrent of abuse of women, but I never seem to see any of it."
ReplyDeleteDitto.
And now wolf whistling seems to count as 'abuse', and I never see any of that any more either.. *sobs*