Today, the law has changed to ensure equality across all strands of hate crime. After many years of campaigning from Galop and others, hate crimes against LGBT+ and disabled people will now be classified as aggravated offences – making them equal to crimes motivated by racial and religious hate. The amendment also creates a new category of ‘sex’ in hate crime legislation.

This change in law will mean all victims and survivors of hate crime have equal access to justice. By becoming an aggravated offence, anti-LGBT+ hate crimes will now carry higher sentences and victims and survivors will have more time to access criminal justice.

Ben Kernighan, Galop’s Co-CEO, said: “At a time when the LGBT+ community is navigating an increasingly hostile environment, paired with the rollback of LGBT+ rights across the globe, this long-overdue change in law is a welcome step in addressing the intensifying hate our community faces.

“We know from our services that public life is becoming less safe for LGBT+ people in the UK, especially for trans+ people. This legislative change means LGBT+ victims and survivors will now be given the same protections and access to justice as other groups impacted by hate crime.”

Too often, Galop’s frontline services see anti-LGBT+ hate crime cases ‘timed out’, as previous legislation meant LGBT+ victims and survivors had a 6-month statutory time limit for cases to be reported, investigated, and presented to the Crown Prosecution Service. This restrictive time limit meant we would often hear from victims like Mark* who were denied justice.

After hosting an LGBT+ photography show, Mark faced sustained homophobic abuse online from someone he knew. The ongoing harassment severely impacted Mark’s mental health, and he needed to seek medical support. Once Mark had recovered, he reported the homophobic abuse to the police. Following investigative delays, Mark's case exceeded the 6-month time limit and his case was dropped, leading to Mark experiencing a second decline in his mental health. 

While the Crime & Policing Bill has received Royal Assent and will be law, it won’t come into immediate effect. In the meantime, Galop’s specialist hate crime team are here to support anyone who experiences anti-LGBT+ hate. If you’d like to talk to someone, you can make a referral here or contact our National LGBT+ Abuse and Violence Helpline by calling 0800 999 5428, emailing help@galop.org.uk, or messaging our webchat.

We saw a 27% increase in hate crime calls to our Helpline during the last reporting year, but our hate crime Helpline work is currently underfunded. If you’d like to help support Galop’s work with LGBT+ victims and survivors of hate crime, you can donate at galop.org.uk/donate

*Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of our clients.

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