Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle rising homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crimes and hate incidents in the UK.
All forms of abuse and hatred are unacceptable.
The UK has a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes, which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity. The Government published the hate crime action plan (Action Against Hate: The UK Government’s plan for tackling hate crime) in 2016 and refreshed this Plan in October 2018.
The Government has commissioned a Law Commission review of the adequacy of current hate crime legislation. The review will report this year and we will respond to it when it is complete.
Also, the Home Office has funded multiple projects aimed at tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime including:
Government action to tackle broader discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people includes:
The Government will continue to work with relevant stakeholders, including Galop and Stonewall, to ensure that these actions are having a positive impact on the range of LGBTQ+ communities affected by hate crime and wider discrimination.