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Hate Crime Statistics die Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate and Rising Trends

The data on UK hate crimes presents a complex picture. Recent official statistics show a 2% decrease in sexual orientation-related hate crimes (from 19,127 to 18,702) and an 11% decrease in transgender identity-related crimes (from 4,258 to 3,809) in 2024/25. However, advocacy groups caution that these figures don’t tell the full story.

The statistics exclude Metropolitan Police data due to reporting changes, which significantly affect LGBTQ+ data, given that many LGBTQ+ people live in London. Additionally, over the past five years, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have risen by around 44% and those based on trans identity have nearly doubled at 88%.

LGBTQ+ hate crime charity Galop saw a 60% increase in LGBTQ+ hate crime victims coming to them for support in 2024, suggesting the official figures underestimate the true scale of the problem. Fewer than one in ten LGBTQ+ people report hate crimes or incidents to police, with half feeling the police wouldn’t do anything.

The Supreme Court Ruling

In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the legal definition of woman under the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex assigned at birth. The case originated from a challenge by For Women Scotland to Scottish legislation requiring 50% of public board members to be women, which included transgender women with gender recognition certificates.

The ruling determined that interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in an incoherent way, and that transgender women could be excluded from same-sex facilities such as changing rooms if proportionate.

Many LGBTQ+ people are living in fear following the Supreme Court judgment, according to advocacy groups, though this period doesn’t fall within the most recent hate crime statistics. The ruling effectively forced trans people to use sex-segregated public services and facilities according to their sex-assigned at birth, contrary to their identity and appearance.

Reform UK’s Growing Influence

Reform UK’s manifesto pledges to ban “transgender ideology” in primary and secondary schools, with no gender questioning, social transitioning or pronoun swapping, and mandates single-sex facilities in schools. The party also states it will scrap the 2010 Equality Act and eliminate diversity, equality and inclusion roles.

69% of Reform UK voters believe that trans people should not be able to legally change their gender via a gender recognition certificate, though 65% still believe same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The 10 English councils now controlled by Reform have banned the flying of Pride flags, limiting flagpoles to the Union Jack and regional emblems.

Reform UK’s electoral threat has pushed both Conservative and Labour parties to adopt more conservative positions on gender self-identification and transgender rights, framing these policies around safeguarding concerns for cisgender women and children.

Online Harassment and Platform Safety

GLAAD’s 2025 Social Media Safety Index found that platforms broadly under-moderated anti-LBGTQ+ hate content while over-moderating LGBTQ+ users, including taking down hashtags containing phrases such as queer, trans and non-binary. In the UK, coordinated far-right and Christian extremist online campaigns have targeted Pride events with fabricated claims that they are “sexualising public spaces,” with these narratives emboldening physical protests and attacks such as those witnessed at London Pride in 2024.

Two in five LGBTQ+ young people, including 58% of trans young people, have been targets of homophobic, biphobic or transphobic online abuse, while nearly all (97%) have witnessed it. Less than half of LGBTQ+ victims of online abuse reported their experiences to social media platforms, and less than one in ten reported to police.

School Bullying

A 2024 YouGov poll found that 47% of LGBTQ+ youth in the UK have been bullied or discriminated against at school or university because of their sexual orientation, and 25% faced bullying due to their gender identity. Half of those who experienced bullying never reported it, and of those who did report it to staff, more than seven in ten said staff responded badly.

Respondents reported being locked in toilets, kicked, verbally and sexually abused, with some being driven to suicidal thoughts, while others complained of teachers purposefully misgendering and mocking them in classrooms. 43% of LGBT+ school students have been bullied compared to 21% of non-LGBT+ students.

Conclusion

The research confirms the article’s themes for the UK context: rising anti-LBGTQ+ sentiment manifesting in hate crimes, discriminatory political developments like the Supreme Court ruling, the growing influence of anti-trans political parties like Reform UK, widespread online harassment, and persistent bullying in schools. While official hate crime statistics show recent decreases, the broader five-year trend shows significant increases, and underreporting remains a major issue.

Links:

#LGBTQRights #TransRights #HateCrimes #UKPOLITICS #QueerRights #EndTransphobia #EndHomophobia #ProtectTransYouth #Equality #HumanRights #LGBTQSafety #UKNews #StandWithLGBTQ

Postal Workers Suspended in New Brunswick, Canada. Two postal workers from Canada Post have been suspended for refusing to deliver controversial flyers from Campaign Life Coalition that call for a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The incident has raised significant concerns about the implications of such materials being distributed in the lead-up to the province’s upcoming October 21 election.

The flyers describe gender-affirming medical procedures in derogatory terms, referring to them as “chemical and surgical mutilation.” Additionally, the flyers state that “God doesn’t make mistakes.” Shannon Aitchison, a Canada Post carrier and union representative who has a transgender child, explained her objection to delivering the materials: “The third flyer was straight-up nonsense,” she told the *Brantford Expositor*. “’ God doesn’t make mistakes,’ so you’re telling me my child is a mistake?”

Five postal workers in the Saint John area chose to refuse delivery of the flyers. While two workers were suspended, others opted to take personal days to avoid handling the controversial materials.

Canada Post has defended its decision, asserting that the flyers did not meet the legal definition of a “non-mailable matter,” and therefore, must be delivered. “Our important and longstanding role in delivering the country’s mail should not be seen as tolerance or support for the contents of any mailing,” stated Canada Post spokesperson Valérie Chartrand. “We are a neutral third party regardless of our views.”

Moreover, *CBC* reported on August 26 that Campaign Life Coalition has distributed similar flyers across New Brunswick to support Premier Blaine Higgs’ “parental rights” policies. These policies, which echo far-right measures seen in parts of the United States, mandate that teachers obtain parental consent before using a student’s chosen name or pronouns for students under 16.

This incident highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding the debate over gender-affirming care and the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly minors, during a politically charged election season.

In the UK it would appear that the British public’s stand on transgender rights; a new YouGov study, the third, and most expansive in a series from 2018, shows evidence of an overall gradual erosion in support towards transgender rights. But even LGBT Rights did not have an easy ride during its travel toward acceptance:

e.g.

During the Pre-20th Century:

Homosexuality was criminalized in the UK during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Buggery Act of 1533 made sodomy a capital offense, and subsequent laws further criminalized homosexual acts.

Decriminalisation:

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalised homosexuality for men over 21 in private. However, discrimination and prejudice persisted.

The 1980s – Rise of Activism:

The 1980s saw the emergence of LGBT+ activism, notably with the founding of organizations like Stonewall, (check out their website for more information about Stonewall). The HIV/AIDS epidemic brought attention to LGBT+ issues and led to increased activism and solidarity.

Section 28:

In 1988, Section 28 was introduced, prohibiting the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. It was a highly controversial and damaging policy.

(The History of LGBT+ Rights in the UK (Union of Students) by Holly Lloyd)

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