Man arrested for online homophobic hate

A man has been arrested for online homophobic hate. This is good to see. We have been working with Warwickshire Police for some time to push for more to be done to tackle LGBT+ hate crime and achieve satisfactory outcomes for victims.

We have regular meetings and speak very frankly. We never shy away from calling them out when they don’t get it right, but equally we are committed to helping the Police do better. Dialogue matters and we will keep the conversations going.

Two of our trustees have recorded lunchtime learning sessions on LGBT+ topics to develop officer’s awareness and confidence. Two trustees are also part of the Police’s LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group which looks at LGBT+ cases, scrutinises and advises on what was done well and what could have been done better. There are further initiatives coming that we will support.

Things are moving in the right direction. That’s not to say everything is fine now. There is a lot more to do. More improvements are needed. But there is a genuine will to listen, learn, and do better. We will continue to support those efforts as a critical friend.