Heartbreak as homophobic abuse forces young to quit gay club Concerns over members’ safety
THE leader of one of North Wales’ only gay youth clubs has revealed he was “left heartbroken” after members were forced to quit the club because of homophobic abuse.
The club, set up for young members of the LGBT+ community, hosted an urgent meeting last week to address the recent spate of attacks on some of its members.
It comes in the wake of the news that a 13-year-old boy had been arrested by police after a club member was assaulted.
The incident happened at a bus stop in July after the victim had left a session at the youth club, which is based at the cafe run by GISDA (a Welsh young people’s charity) on Caernarfon’s Maes.
Other incidents of verbal abuse have now been reported to North Wales Police.
Since opening in 2017, the youth club has flourished and is now a popular hub for more than 150 young members of the LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community.
The centre aims to support young LGBT+ individuals but due to recent concerns about members’ safety, club founder Aled Griffiths organised a crunch meeting on Wednesday in a bid to address the “tension and hostility” aimed at the organisation from some sections of the community.
At the meeting, Mr Griffiths addressed various organisations and representatives including those from North Wales Police, Children’s Commissioner of Wales’ representatives, and Hywel Williams MP.
Aled said: “This club means the absolute world to me, and it really hurts at the moment that we feel very threatened.
“I started the club because I had a very difficult time coming to terms with my own sexuality when I was growing up, to the point where I thought that it couldn’t be an option.
“Luckily, I was able to move on from there and be truthful with myself, my family and friends, and I could move on with my life.
“I moved to England and lived there for 10 years, then I came back.
“When I came back, I thought that society had changed and life would be easier for young people.
“But when I came to GISDA, the same feelings that I felt back then were also felt by the young people of today. They were afraid to be themselves, and one-on-one therapy wasn’t meeting their needs.
“What they needed was to feel that they were a part of something, a community and something to build up with peer support.
“That’s why youth club.”
According to a report from Stonewall, the number of hate crimes reported had increased, while the number of prosecution had decreased.
“Social attitudes have changed a lot, but not to the point where these young people feel accepted in their communities. There’s still a lot of hostility towards them and these statistics sort of point to that.
“Young people are being rejected or afraid of being I started the rejected. Coming out is a big step, you’re gambling so much.
“When I was coming out, I felt so scared that I would lose my parents and that’s an awful thing to be able to carry for so many years.
“And a lot of the young people that come to the club are very often at this stage, they haven’t got anybody and they don’t see their true self. “
“It’s so important and I am so scared that something this valuable is in jeopardy.”
In response, Sgt Non Edwards from North Wales Police said: “We’ll continue to work to deal with problems, but we need people to work with us in partnership.
“We don’t have any more police officers, so education is the key as well.”