Transgender community seeks hate crime laws

The transgender community has called on the Government to introduce hate-crime legislation.

One person taking part in a survey by the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) reported: “[I’ve received] abusive phone calls making very violent threats and intentions such as, when they see me they will hang me from a tree with a live electric cable.”

A report commissioned by TENI on transphobic hate crime documented 32 hate incidents last year, of which 15 were designated hate crimes. TENI’s chief executive Broden Giambrone said yesterday: “We need our lawmakers and legal institutions to understand the realities of trans peoples’ lives and we need our police services to respect and protect us.