Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Hate thugs attacked me with bottles
Brooklyn, 21, tells of ordeal
A NON-BINARY bisexual has described the impact of homophobic hate crime as police reveal a record number of incidents in Northern Ireland in the past year.
Brooklyn Burridge, 21, was chased and attacked with bottles yards from their place of work on the Newtownards Road in East Belfast.
A group had started hurling abuse at them when they were with their ex-partner.
The incident was never reported to the police, as Brooklyn believed it would not be taken seriously enough following previous experiences.
They shared their story with The Mirror as it has been revealed that during 2021/22 homophobic hate incidents increased from 366 to 462.
Figures showed crimes increased from 246 to 336 from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
Transphobic hate incidents decreased from 71 to 65, but crimes increased from 34 to 42.
Brooklyn said being a member of the LGBTQI in Northern Ireland can be difficult due to “an old-fashioned way of thinking” in society.
They added: “Growing up in the LGBTQI community in East Belfast can be a struggle, although things definitely got better over time, especially with my family.
“I am lucky that they are very accepting and supportive.
“It was in school where I faced my first real challenges and this was not from my fellow pupils, it was the adults who gave me the most trouble.
“I was once seen kissing a friend
It was the adults who gave me the most trouble BROOKLYN BURRIDGE EAST BELFAST
and after that we were not even allowed to sit on the same side of the classroom together.
“In my role working at Mcdonalds, I face almost weekly abuse from some people due to the way I look, although I don’t let that bother me and shrug it off as most of the time they do not know better, but there are other times that have left me very scared.
“Last year I was walking with my ex-partner through CS Lewis Square when a group started to shout homophobic abuse at us, with things quickly turning violent.
“They started to throw glass bottles and chase us, and I suffered a cut on the back of my legs. I thought I had made it to safety in an alleyway but the group caught up with me and hit me again in the back of the head.”
SDLP councillor Seamus de Faoite, a member of the LGBTQI community has said while it has come a long way over the past few decades, there is still a long way to go, with the “damning” hate crime figures showing that.
He said: “Behind every one of these statistics is someone attacked, sometimes verbally, sometimes extremely violently, just for being themselves.
“It is hard to overstate how much of a negative impact this type of attack can have on somebody, particularly young people.” The PSNI said nobody should face discrimination due to their gender or sexual identity.
Supt Sue Steen, the PSNI’S Hate Crime Lead, added: “Over the coming weeks, alongside The Rainbow Project, we will be hosting a series of listening events with members of the LGBTQIA community to hear what more we can do to build trust and confidence in policing so that we can work together to put an end to hate.”