The southern county of Kent is often called the garden of England, however for one young gay couple it is far from a paradise of acceptance and tolerance. Reece Heron, an 18 year-old gay man from the small town of Tonbridge bravely spoke to the local press of the in daily homophobic abuse he and his boyfriend have faced. Hoping that in raising awareness and encourage a more enlightened view.
“It happens all the time. Me and my boyfriend walk down the High Street holding hands and we get people shouting abuse . . . names like ‘shirtlifter’ and other horrible words.“ Reece told the Tonbridge Courier, “I don’t know why they find us offensive – it’s our life, not theirs. It makes us feel so hated.”
Reece and his boyfriend are not alone, they do have other gay friends in the town, however they are not as open as the young couple, “they don’t really show it – they say to us we are brave for showing it. But it’s a normal relationship, [so] why would I want to hide it?”
To witness first hand the experiences of Reece and his boyfriend, a local reporter accompanied them on a short stroll along Tonbridge High Street. According to the reporter there were five examples of what could be described as homophobic abuse, varying from jeering and pointing, to all-out aggressive verbal abuse , one man who called them ”poofters” and crudely gesticulated to them.
Reece and boyfriend Simon, claimed that on a separate occasion, a man told them he hoped they’d die of AIDS whilst two young women with children told them they should be ashamed of themselves. Reece said, If anything did happen to hurt either one of us we would go straight to the police, but with verbal abuse it’s hard to do that. We would feel a bit stupid reporting some name-calling.”
However inspector John Phillips said: “There are a range of agencies that offer support to victims of hate crime and we have specially trained officers to investigate hate crime offences. I would urge anyone who feels they have been a victim of a hate crime, or who thinks they might have witnessed one, to report it to us and to be confident that we will take it seriously and investigate it sensitively.”
A special peaceful to raise awareness and protest against homophobia has been arranged in Tonbridge for Saturday 18 August to be held at Tonbridge Castle.
https://www.facebook.com/events/145828328888703/
