I'm slightly mystified by the media coverage of this story or rather the lack of coverage. Gay trainee policeman, James Parkes was attacked in Liverpool's 'gay village' on Sunday night. It appears he was attacked by teenage boys. This shocking attack left him in a critical state. It follows an attack on a lesbian couple in Brighton earlier this month and the murder of Ian Baynham in Trafalgar Square, also earlier this month.Coupled with a reported rise in hate crime (at least in London), these present a worrying picture. Yet the coverage has been very limited. If we had three attacks and one murder in a month because they were black would the media have remained so mute? To be attacked for race is apparently so much more shocking than to be attacked for ones sexuality. Newsnight did make a bit of an effort last night and had an interesting, if short video intro before a tangential and superficial discussion that didn't really get into the issues. All this, stuck at the end of the programme when most people had gone to bed. The Newsnight item on the rise of homophobic hate crime can be viewed here and the subsequent studio discussion here.
These developments highlight both the limit of the legislative revolution over the last ten years and the need for more to be done - particularly in addressing the attitudes of young people. The kids and teens that apparently attacked Parkes are part of a generation that openly uses 'gay' as an insult. Anne Atkins made a reasonable point on Newsnight in raising the issue of people who feel increasingly marginalised - because society has become more tolerant - and are taking out their emotions in this way. She might have a point but the answer is not (as Atkins would) to stop the liberalisation of attitudes to sexuality but to extend it and ensure that it's not just middle class queers who feel the force of a liberal reform.
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