*triggering image below*

Things appear to keep going from bad to worse for LGBT+ people in Liverpool.

The UK city has endured a spate of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in 2021, including attacks on numerous people and on Pride celebrations.

There were protests held within the city by LGBT+ people last month demanding change, but it appears the violence is continuing. 

This weekend a 24 year-old from Belfast named Aodhán Benson was attacked in the city centre – by a group of four men calling him homophobic slurs – just because he called one of them ‘love’. Police were called around 12.25am on Saturday morning and he was taken to hospital.

Aodhán is reported to have ‘feared for his life’ during the attack, which is understandable given the global coverage on the murder of Samuel Luiz in Spain this week. 

Speaking to Liverpool Echo the after the attack, the victim said :

“If this is what being gay means, then I don’t want to be gay. Literally, if this is what my sexuality results in, then I’ll not be gay then, if you just leave me alone”

“Because I’m only 24, so what happens if it happens when I’m 34, 44, 54. How many more times will it happen to me? Like, why are people so horrible? It’s just sick.”

He later posted an image to Twitter (below) mentioning the support he had received from people. 

The attack comes just one week after Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell issued a statement condemning the spate of attacks in the city, which said: 

“The attacks in Liverpool city centre fly in the face of [Liverpool’s] values and have understandably sent shockwaves throughout the region” 

The statement continued: “That these attacks should occur during Pride Month, a time meant to celebrate our LGBT+ community, is especially upsetting and only serves to underline why Pride events are still needed.

The statement went on to highlight that “everybody is welcome” but “violence, bigotry, and hatred are not.”

We’d like to start seeing some proof of that ASAP please before anyone else gets hurt.