Tougher sentences for violent offenders who hurt people based on their sexuality would mark a “vital step forward”, a Labour MP has said.
Jacob Collier called for new aggravated offences as part of the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, as he warned many LGBT+ people “don’t feel safe in reporting hate”.
More than 100 cross-party MPs backed the proposed amendment, originally put forward by Rachel Taylor, which would create the new offences if violent crimes are motivated by hostility towards a person’s sexuality, transgender identity or disability.
Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson has vowed to broaden the framework for aggravated offences.
Mr Collier said: “I know what it means to think twice how you walk down the street, to pause before holding somebody’s hand, to wonder whether that shout from across the road is something you can ignore or something you can’t afford to.
“And I know that I’m not alone in that.
“I’ve spoken to my constituents and people from far beyond who tell me that they don’t feel safe in reporting hate when it happens. They don’t believe that they’ll be taken seriously and there’s a profound failure of trust, and one that we in this House have a duty to repair.”
The Burton and Uttoxeter MP also told the Commons: “I think it’s also fitting that we are introducing this amendment in Pride Month, and in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling which has caused so much anguish amongst the trans community.”
He said the move “represents a vital step forward in the protection of some of the most marginalised people within our society” and added: “Too many victims still believe that the system is not on their side and this new clause gives us the opportunity to change that. It gives police and prosecutors a clear route to charge and convict offenders in a way that truly reflects the nature of these crimes.”
Mr Collier said the proposed change was “about dignity, about recognising that whether you’re a trans teenager being punched in the park, a gay couple being spat on on the Tube, or a disabled man being harassed on his way to work, all people deserve the full protection of the law”.
Aggravated offences would also offer “vital protection for disabled people, who often remain far too invisible in the public conversation around hate crime”, he added.
The law already provides for aggravated offences, if they are motivated by hostility towards a victim’s race or religious group membership.
“That discrepancy cannot be right. We cannot as a society say that some forms of hatred are more evil than others,” Ms Taylor told the Commons.
The Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth added she was “at university when section 28 was introduced”, part of the Local Government Act 1988 which banned town halls from promoting or teaching “the acceptability of” homosexuality in schools.
“I remember it vividly, it was more than the law, it was an attack on the right of people like me to live openly,” she said.
“It stigmatised lesbians, gays and bisexual people, it pushed us out of public life.
“I got into politics to fight that cruel law and everything it represented.”
Ms Taylor said her amendment would be “an important step forward for equal rights”.
Marie Tidball, the Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge who also backed the amendment, said the proposal “would foster respect and equality for all by ensuring justice for disabled victims of hate crime”.
Responding to the debate, Dame Diana branded these crimes “disgraceful”, and said the increase in hate crime towards transgender people “cannot be tolerated”.
On the proposed new clause, Dame Diana said: “The Government supports this change, as set out in our manifesto last year.
“And I can confirm to the House that we will bring forward a suitable Government amendment to give effect to this commitment in the Lords at committee stage.”
