Four out of five gay people experience hate crime - report

A report to be launched in the North tomorrow finds that four out of five gay people have experienced hate crime and over half have been violently assaulted.

The Institute of Conflict Research report finds that the North has a significantly higher level of homophobic attacks than in Britain society and calls on politicians to speak out against attacks.

It was only when an individual gay man took a case to the European Court of Human Rights ten years ago that the legal ban on homosexual activity in the North was lifted.

The legal changes came in the teeth of objections from, amongst others, the DUP and the Free Presbyterian Church who ran the "Save Ulster From Sodomy" campaign.

Five gay men have been murdered in the North over the past five years.

Neil Jarman, of the Institute of Conflict Research, says homophobia knows no sectarian or class boundaries but religion was a key factor.

Homophobia remains an acceptable prejudice in the North, he said, with gay people afraid to be open about their sexuality.

He appealed to those involved in setting the educational syllabus to include discussion of sexuality in schools.