Gender Identity Practitioner Toolkit
8. Stigma, Bullying and Hate Crime
Stigma
LGBTQIA+ stigma is manifested at multiple levels, and stigma at each level has both direct and indirect effects on LGBTQ+ health inequities. At the structural level, stigma is manifested within common and/or civil laws, religious teachings and laws, within education settings and traumatic assaults. Stigma is not new, it impacts on emotional and mental health and can make young people feel less able to talk about their identity.
Stigma leads to social isolation, which undermines health and wellbeing. LGBTQIA+ people throughout the world experience rejection from family members, social groups and communities. This rejection may be particularly harmful within cultures wherein social relationships are interdependent.
Microaggressions
Microaggressions are the everyday “slights, snubs, or insults” whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages.” Some examples of micro-aggression are:
Asking intrusive questions or making comments about someone’s body, for example “what parts do you have ‘’down there?” or “I can’t imagine you with… (previous gender body parts)”
Referring to gender or sexuality as a “choice” or “lifestyle”
Telling someone that they “don’t look non-binary” or that they are “confused”
Assuming one partner is the “man” and the other is the “woman” in queer relationships.
Saying ‘I can’t keep up with all this, it was simpler in my day’
Bullying
Young people tell us they are bullied in education and in the community, they feel that bullying needs to be tackled properly, they feel that sometimes it is not addressed as adults find it easier to take the option of ignoring the behaviour. In some circumstances bullying may well be a hate crime, which is why it is important that bullying is addressed directly, as it is unacceptable in any form.
“It’s not okay to do nothing”
“Being told to get a thicker skin, is not the way to deal with bullying.”
Young people would like policies across all settings to have specific detail of how LGBTQIA+ bullying will be addressed, and how those responsible for the bullying will be educated.
Hate Crime
These crimes are covered by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Section 66 of the Sentencing Act 2020 provides for uplifted sentences which means that a person found guilty of a hate crime may have a more serious sentence than they would have done for the crime itself.
Any crime can be prosecuted as a hate crime if the offender has either demonstrated or been motivated by hostility or prejudice based on:
- race
- religion
- disability
- sexual orientation
- transgender identity
Someone can be a victim of more than one type of hate crime.
The police and the CPS have agreed a definition for identifying and flagging hate crimes which covers situations in which the victim or any other person perceive the action or motivation of the perpetrator to fulfil the definition for a hate crime. Similarly, it covers situations in which the perpetrator is motivated by hostility or prejudice because of their own wrongly held perception regarding the victim’s characteristics.
Stonewall reports an ongoing increase in hate crime. Anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crime is abuse or violence committed against someone because of their orientation or gender identity. This can include:
- Physical attacks
- Sexually threatening or violent behaviour
- Stealing or damaging your belongings
- Blackmail, including demanding money not to ‘out’ you
- Sending abusive or offensive messages, including online abuse
- Verbal abuse, such as calling someone offensive and anti-LGBTQIA+ names
- Acting in a threatening or intimidating way
- Encouraging others to target LGBTQIA+ people
Any crime can be prosecuted as a hate crime if the offender has either:
demonstrated hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity
Or
been motivated by hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity
Someone can be a victim of more than one type of hate crime.
If you think a young person you work with may have been a victim of a hate crime, please take advice from the local police.
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