From The Pink Paper.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, has called on the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith MP to consider introducing a specific offence of homophobic hate crime.
During a statement on the government’s new crime strategy, Chris Bryant pointed to the fact that there are still many cases of “gay bashing” going on around the country and the reluctance of many gay men to report such incidents to the police is particularly worrying.
As a result he has called on the new Home Secretary to introduce legislation that would identify acts of homophobic violence as a specific offence. Bryant says: “This government has an excellent record of promoting equality since 1997 and has done a great deal to help promote equal rights for homosexuals in particular. “I would like to see this fine record continued by the government introducing measurers to bring about a specific offence of homophobic hate crime. This would allow victims of such crimes greater assurances that there is specific legislation designed to protect them and prosecute perpetrators.”
Bryant’s call for the new law came in the same week that marked the 40th anniversary of Sexual Offences Act 1967, introduced to partly legalise homosexuality.
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