Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Homophobia in the neighbourhood
John Toner of the Indy reports on the high levels of abuse that one couple receive on a daily basis:
A gay couple have told of their constant struggle with homophobia in Haringey.
Teacher Siobhan Wesley and her partner, charity worker Patricia Macleod, say they are subjected to threatening sexual and homophobic abuse in public on an almost daily basis.
The pair live separately in the Green Lanes area of Haringey but spend a significant amount of time together as a couple in public.
This has exposed them to an escalating level of threatening sexual behaviour from people, predominantly men, and violent threats and abuse purely because they appear together in public as a gay couple.
Ms Wesley, 29, said: “All the time this happens, we’re just walking along the street and we get people yelling sexual insults at us, men shouting what they’d like us to do to them and people just screaming ‘lezzers’ at us.”
Recently the couple were saying goodbye at the end of Siobhan’s street when a man exposed himself to them and began to sexually insult them for no apparent reason.
I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that it is upsetting to read of this homophobic behaviour in the neighbourhood.
What should be done, as Ms Wesley suggests, to make local people aware that "queer people exist in this area, that it’s completely normal and that the comments they make are offensive and against the law."
UPDATED Sat 11th April
From GayHarrin website
Report it!
The local police station for Harringay can be reached on:
If you have witnessed or experienced harassment, report it by calling the Anti-Social Behaviour Reporting Line:
- Name
- Address
- Email address /telephone no.
- Brief description of people involved, location and what was done or said.
Tags for Forum Posts: homophobia
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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The point is that a proportion of people of all races/nationalities/cultures engage in "vile antisocial behaviour NOBODY IS DISPUTING THAT however, we are talking about and wish to address what is happening on Green Lanes.
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Permalink Reply by Wise Thoughts on
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Sorry and upset to read this news. Wise Thoughts is a small charity based in Wood Green Library - deals with LGBT issues - inc #gayWISE #womenWISE dropin services, please contact us if you think we can be of any help. http://www.wisethoughts.org/contact-us/ It's a shame that Haringey and statutory providers have continually ignored the call for dedicated services for #LGBT communities to tackle homophobia.
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Andrew why do you keep quoting what I said? I know what I said and I'm not denying it. You seem to be failing to grasp the concept of what I am saying. I said these things happen in Harringay. I did not say they only happen in Harringay, nor did I say that only these things happen in Harringay. Stop muddying up the thread. I don't want to have to keep explaining things to you because it is tiresome. I'm sorry you are offended by what you don't understand or experience but it does happen and that's what this thread is about so if you don't like hearing it maybe you could leave the thread and start another one about something else that you do like hearing about?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Are we saying that this is not necessarily homophobic behaviour as it is chiefly directed at women but not men? That's a shame because if it was we could get a van load of police officers to deal with it.
Incidentally I only really became aware of how big a problem this was once my daughter hit puberty. That was a nice surprise for her.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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Definitely homophobic so definitely a hate crime. But anecdotally at least it seems women may be more vulnerable to it than men.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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I expect many of you have seen this video, of a woman walking around New York, with comments from passing men being recorded. Many people found it to be an eye-opener. If anyone fancies setting up a similar expose on Green Lanes, I'd be happy to work on it. We could show it on a continuous loop in Ersan's (?) window.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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That's an interesting video, Pam. On YT, it ran into this one (interesting to note how the stats claimed on this one compare with the stats claimed on the other):
I'd join that-
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And almost on cue... just got off the bus at Mattison Rd straight into a "hey baby yes baby" scenario. :-/
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Before I got too old to get any of this crap, I had a few stock responses. "Sorry, do I know you? Have we been introduced?" or speaking in tongues. The latter in particular never failed. There's no point trying to have a normal discussion ie Why are you speaking to me, as it would quickly get very offensive.
PS It gets worse in the summer. More men hanging about on the street, and fewer shrouds of clothing.
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