Stephen Doughty has been attacked, abused and threatened in the city and online
CARDIFF MP Stephen Doughty says he has received homophobic abuse and threats and the issue is only getting worse.
The Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, who identifies as gay, told The Cardiffian: “I’ve had lots of homophobic abuse and sadly it has been getting progressively worse.”
He said LGBT+ hate crime is rising due to media coverage of LGBT+ issues as well as politicians “driving wedges between communities”.
His comments come after three people were last week found guilty of murdering NHS consultant Dr Gary Jenkins, a bisexual man, in Bute Park in July 2021.
Dr Jenkins suffered multiple brain injuries after being beaten and tortured in the early hours of July 20 by Jason Edwards, 25, Lee William Strickland, 36, and Dionne Timms-Williams, 17, who were all found guilty of murder.
A vigil attended by hundreds of people was held on Sunday to honour Dr Jenkins’ life and work as a psychiatrist for 20 years.
Mr Doughty said: “Last year I was assaulted in broad daylight down in Cardiff Bay. It was not the first time I had been physically threatened but it was the most serious I’ve had.
“It’s mild compared to some other cases but it’s unnerving and I’m the sort of person who wants to be out and about in the community being myself. Five years ago, I felt more comfortable showing affection in public. Now I would think twice about holding a partner’s hand unless I was in an LGBT+ space.”
Mr Doughty added: “I’ve been called f*ggot walking back from a night out on Queen Street. I’ve had threats made online. One person said they were going to ‘sort me and my issues out’ at a football match knowing I’d be there as a supporter.
“A photo of me and a former partner was posted online with threatening comments. My name has been mentioned on a far-right blog linked to violence. People have even told me gay people will burn in hell on the doorstep.
“Anyone in public life gets a higher-level of abuse in person or online, particularly if you are not white, cisgender or straight. You just have to look at the data of abuse directed at MPs to see this.”
Cisgender means that your gender identity is the same as the one you were assigned at birth.
‘There is understandably a huge amount of fear and worry and that needs to be reassured by the police’
Mr Doughty said that he’d like to see some changes in Cardiff in order to tackle LGBT+ hate crime and improve safety in the city.
“First, I’d to like see education, awareness and understanding about these issues. The new LGBT+ inclusive education policies brought in by the Welsh Government recently I think are a positive step forward.
“Secondly, South Wales Police need to make sure that every officer is taking this issue seriously. There is quite understandably a huge amount of fear and worry in the LGBT+ community now and that needs to be reassured.
“There needs to be a proactive effort and these issues need to be proactively addressed. The police in Cardiff have long been supportive at Pride events and have always taken my concerns seriously when I’ve raised them.
Mr Doughty continued: “I’m sure though there’s others who have not had as positive an experience. We also need to make sure that police officers who are LGBT+ are safe, supported, and secure in their jobs.
“Thirdly we need to call out homophobia, biphobia and transphobia when we see it. The same goes for other types of discrimination.
“We also need to protect and secure our spaces in the city. People say, ‘why do we need these’, but these spaces mean that when people feel threatened, they have somewhere to go and not worry about looking over their shoulder.”
‘Things have definitely got worse since I became an MP 10 years ago’
Mr Doughty said his position as an MP has made him more aware of cases of LGBT+ hate crime in the community.
“In the last few years, I have also been made aware of some horrific examples of forced conversion therapy or disappearances in Cardiff and South Wales more widely,” he said.
“I have witnessed events which suggest hate crime is on the rise, and the statistics also reflect this. Most of my friendship circle has had something happen to them in the last few years and many constituents have raised concerns and incidents.
“So much abuse is now online, and things have definitely got worse since I became an MP 10 years ago.”
Mr Doughty believes continued rises in LGBT+ hate crime is linked to negative coverage of LGBT+ people in national media, particularly what he calls “a hostile environment about transgender people”.
He said: “I think that’s particularly worrying because for a while people assumed we were making progress with positive changes like shifting attitudes among younger people as well as important legal rights won such as gay marriage. It does make you wonder ‘Is this a backlash to that progress?’
“Politicians and some public figures are contributing to this as they want to play culture wars, drive wedges between communities or they think it’s a silly joke. You are talking about people’s lives and the freedom to be who they are, and this week just goes to show that there are real life consequences of discrimination.
“It’s a clear patter across the whole of the country and sadly Cardiff is representative of these national trends. Homophobic hate crimes have nearly doubled, and these are what have just been reported.
“If it was just one year, I would be less worried but there has been an increase for several years now. It comes from the top of society – the media and the government creating an environment where people feel and are seen as lesser.
“I’ve had transgender people get in contact in tears after the publication of an article or the impact that it has had on someone transgender that they know.
“If you have an environment where it is acceptable to dehumanise people, it makes it a lot easier for people to do things to marginalised groups because they don’t see them as human,” he said.
Mr Doughty said the Crown Prosecution Services’ recent apology for remarks seen as blaming Dr Jenkins for his death showed that negative attitudes of LGBT+ people still remain.
“These show there’s some very ingrained attitudes that queer people somehow deserve it or live different lives to normal society,” he said.
“We’ve seen in cases like Gary Jenkins or the Stephen Port case there are still attitudes that being attacked is seen as some consequence of leading an ‘immoral lifestyle’ and say ‘no wonder it happens to them.
“Progress isn’t inevitable, and it always had to be fought for.”
