A man says he was attacked and abused twice in less than 24 hours over his sexuality as he walked through Liverpool city centre.
Kolade Ladipo, 21, was filming an Instagram video on Friday morning (July 2) when he says a group of men shouted "Oh god, what is that? What are you though?" and "Are you a boy or a girl?"
Kolade says that was the second incident in less than 24 hours he had experienced. On the evening of Thursday, July 1, he claims he was attacked by a man pulling on his hair.
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Kolade, who has just finished his second year at LIPA, says he was walking down Victoria Street when a man shouted a homophobic slur at his friend.
The 21-year-old's friend kept walking, but Kolade looked back at the man.
He told the ECHO of his confusion and said: "I gave him a look like, 'what are you doing'. He was like, 'Do you want some?'"
Kolade said the man then pushed him and pulled his hair before the man's friend pulled him away.
The student said: "I just like, 'Oh f*** off'. I was too drunk to have a physical fight with someone because I wasn't trying to do that. Violence is never the answer."
Unfortunately, Kolade says this kind of abuse and insults have become part of everyday life for him, leading to him now feeling desensitised to them.
Kolade told the ECHO: "I feel very, very empowered, strong. I feel like I can do anything, I feel empowered, I feel strong, I feel beautiful, I feel everything that's good.
"But then I also am reminded all the time that these people exist, these people try to put me down. And, unfortunately, there's not much I can do.
"All I can do, for myself and in this world, is do what I can, do what I want, and if that upsets someone else, that's completely, solely on them.
"Like, I can't do anything about it, and something that I want people to know is that, yes, it's important to be amazing and do we want to do, but unfortunately, which is the distinctive difference, is that sometimes I don't know when I'm being fought or attacked for my skin colour, or my sexuality, or if it's both.
"I think that's the complication as well. It's the hardship of it all. Like, I can't get a break."
Kolade gave a speech and led the chants at the recent protest against a series of homophobic and transphobic attacks in Liverpool city centre.
The victims of those attacks recently spoke out to say they won't let hate win.
Kolade wants people to be more aware of their actions and to stand up for victims of abuse and attacks.
He added: "This is our daily reality. A lot of people don't realise it, but it is our reality.
"And I think people need to understand that they need to come to the conclusion that they need to do better, and let people just do what they want to do.
"Yeah, I think everyone should just be more wary, and not be bystanders. Because it happens to a lot of us on a daily basis and we're forced to do it all on our own and everyone is watching us and no one is helping us."
He added: "We all want the world to be a better place, but we're not actually doing anything when we see something going wrong."
