Homophobia versus Islamophobia

A gay pride demonstrator is holding a rainbow flag, sign of the LGBT movement. Image: Greenmelinda

London Voices tries not only to look at stories that have been completely ignored by the media, but also takes a closer look at news stories and digs deeper. While national newspapers have been full of stories about homophobia in London, we investigated whether there is a connection between the high homophobic crime reports and the Asian population in East London.

So, first let’s have a look at the general statistics: Reports of homophobic crime have risen by nearly a fifth in one year, Metropolitan Police statistics reveal. Last year, 1,008 offences were recorded. In the 12 months to September this year, the number went up to 1,192 homophobic incidents. Whereas most of them are minor offences, homophobia can also lead to murder.

Three teenagers attacked a gay man at Trafalgar Square in September. Ian Baynham died from his injuries three weeks later. It was the third homophobic murder in London this year.

In the last couple of months, homophobia in London has been very high on the media agenda. The national press analysed Nick Griffin’s BBC appearance, debated the latest police figures and pointed their finger towards Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir, who was accused of homophobia after she wrote a controversial article about the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately. Meanwhile, people were asking questions in forums and Facebook group discussions that journalists did not dare to raise: Does London’s Asian population have a problem when it comes to homosexuality?

Some of the stories in the media seem to paint a picture that there really is a problem with the Asian community. The case of Oliver Hemsley was widely reported in the media last year. The 20-year-old was left paralysed after a knife attack by a Bengali gang in August 2008 in East London.

Protesters oppose homophobia. Image: Scroniser

Other examples can also be found via social networking. The Facebook group ‘East London Homophobia’ has an incident log, where the majority of the gays and lesbians posting describe how they got attacked by Asian youths. Noah Crutchfield, for example, reported that he has been verbally abused by a group of Asian men in March when walking with his partner through Brick Lane. Martyn, who asked to not have his surname published, told us how he and his friends were attacked by 10 to 12 Asian boys close to where Hemsley got stabbed.

“In East London, I do feel comfortable saying that this is a problem that stems from the Bengali community,” says Martyn. “By all means, not the whole community, but there is a small part, who believe that homosexuality does not deserve any respect.”

Is this a story that the media missed? London Voices got curious and called up local councils, but they only told us to talk to the police. They, in return refused to give a statement. Local MPs ignored all attempts to speak to them and even Stonewall, a well known lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisation, was not interested in answering any questions.

Others, who tried, did not have any luck. The online platform Homovision.tv contacted the Hackney and Tower Hamlets councils, the Metropolitan Police, the East London Mosque and the Mayor of London’s office. “Not one of these organisation’s press offices provided any spokesperson to discuss these issues, despite HOMOVISION contacting them over a course of three weeks”, says an article on the website.

The only option for us to get any hard data was to send a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to the Metropolitan Police. We asked for a breakdown of the number of homophobic crimes and homophobic crime prosecutions in London by ethnic origins of the defendants from September 2005 to September this year. After one month we finally got a list of numbers of people proceeded against for homophobic hate crime within the years we required. The ethnic appearances were broken down into white (Irish and British), mixed (white and Asian, white and Black African and white and Black Caribbean), black (African and Caribbean) and Asian (Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani and Chinese).

With around 10 per cent of homophobic hate crime perpetrators being Asian, there does not seem to be a problem with this ethnic minority. But, since more than half of them come from Bangladesh, the FOI data seems to suggest that there might be issues within this community. It still does not seem to be a big deal, considering the small number.

In 2007, 15 people with a Bangladeshi background were charged with homophobic hate crimes in London. That only makes up five per cent of the overall figure. With nearly 58 per cent of White British people being charged with homophobic hate crimes, the Bengali offenders get lost in these numbers.

Galop, London’s LGBT community safety charity, did an independent research and came to the same result. “There is no evidence that indicates a higher number of non-white groups in perpetrating crimes,” says Galop’s Information Officer Peter Kelley.

Problem solved? No, not really. What people don’t always take into account is the proportion of population. In order to get a clearer and more realistic picture of the relative likelyhood of different communities to commit homophobic crime, we need some research that looks at the relative size of different communities.

Kelley points out that 80 per cent of the perpetrators of homophobic hate crime are young men from poor and socially excluded communities. “In East London there have been recently issues with young Bangladeshi men targeting gay venues,” he says. “And that is one of the most deprived areas in London.”

Indeed, the East London borough Newham, where one third of the population is Asian, has a 190 per cent increase in homophobic crimes, the basic Metropolitan police figures reveal.

“It would be really harsh and unfair to describe all Asian people in London a certain way,” says David L.*, who has been verbally abused by an Asian group. But he agrees with Kelley that poverty among Asian communities might be a factor for homophobia. No proper school education, unemployment and no prospects can be quite depressing, he continues.

After 9/11 the term Islamophobia became a big issue. David L. thinks that Muslims often have to deal with the stereotype of being a terrorist and therefore get angry at society. He says: “When they feel put upon and when they feel victimised, the easiest thing to do for them is to lash out at someone else.”

Mohammed Ali, who works for a Bengali community Trust in East London, has not heard of any homophobic attacks by his community in his borough. “But, because we don’t know of any incidents, it doesn’t mean there are no tensions,” he intervenes. Ali cannot imagine poverty being a reason for homophobia, but believes the community is frightened of homosexuals, because they know so little about them.  “Homosexuality is not discussed among Bangladeshis, because there is a religious barrier. And because people don’t talk about it, they do not understand it.” He continues saying that if people understand, “they will be more tolerant”.

Religion seems to be a major factor when it comes to homophobia among the Asian community. A young Bengali Muslim, who did not want to give his name, states: “Personally I do not have a problem with homosexuals, but I do not agree with it. I believe, the only true relationship can be between man and woman. This is what my religion teaches me.”

A Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) report revealed that 25 per cent of Muslim students do not respect gays, whereas only 4 per cent of non-Muslims do not tolerate homosexuality.

Kelley points out that in some mosques, people preach hate and intolerance. David L. says: “Some of the things that are being preached in some of the mosques probably are not as liberal and does encourage homophobia and discrimination.” In fact, as the CSC report mentions, a speaker at the Queen Mary College, part of London University, encouraged Muslim students two years ago to disrespect gays because “Allah hates” homosexuality.

Islam teaches Muslims to treat everyone equally. Image: DMahendra

But Shahadat Hossain, a young Bengali Muslim, insists that his religion does not discriminate anyone. “Islam says that you should not mistreat anyone in any way, no matter what colour or race they are or where they are from. That includes homosexuals,” he says.

So, it is very hard to believe that there really is a problem among the Bengali community with homophobia. If this were an issue, wouldn’t it be in the media? Wouldn’t the police and the councils do something? Does nobody want to talk about it, as this is such a sensitive issue? Are they scared to be labelled racist or homophobic?

“If there is a particular area where there is a particular problem with a community, then more work has to be done with those communities,” Kelley says. “It is wrong for a council to ignore homophobia, because it might find it uncomfortable that these perpetrators are young Bangladeshi men.”

Mohammed Ali is looking for a lead from his council to deal with this problem, if there really is one. “We, in the community, can only do something, if they bring it up,” he says.

Maybe it is not such a big deal at all. Are gays and lesbians just a bit paranoid? Or racist? There have been cases reported to Galop where Muslim gay men weren’t let into a gay bar, because they were Muslims. Kelley says: “I guess some people in the LGBT community really are racist.” It goes two ways. Both communities face day-to-day discrimination and get angry at society. He goes on, arguing that while “people from other minority communities can be intolerant” to gays and lesbians, some people from the LGBT community might blame the Asian community for most of the homophobic hate crimes.

The collected data shows that within the Asian community, Bangladeshis seem to be the most aggressive when it comes to homophobia. The charged Bengali perpetrators in London still just take up five per cent of all homophobic culprits. But even if this is a very small number, it is still a problem certain boroughs in London have to tackle.

*Name changed

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