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 Sarah on
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Welcome to the new misogyny. We've come a long way but the backlash seems to be intensifying.
I was cat called by a drunk in a park near my work (not in Haringey). It was morning so he wasn't drunk yet, but he's a regular there. I turned around and told him why such comments are unwelcome, even if he thinks he's being flattering. He was quite taken aback, and thanked me for educating him.
I would say you have to pick your battles wisely though, especially when alone.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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Yeah, there's a guy in his 60's at my work who thinks it's perfectly fine to call me 'sweetie' 'gorgeous' and 'young lady' (I'm 37). I asked him quite nicely if he could just call me by my name and he got all offended. He is a really lovely man, but he doesn't understand and thinks he is being charming. I understand that, and I don't believe he is doing it to offend me and I did for a while mull over whether or not I should mention it. But I did, because it is unacceptable, and not because I'm ageist against older men. I'm sorry he got upset, but it is not my problem that he got upset. He no longer calls me those names, so I'm assuming it he accepts what I told him.
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Ugh, work is always tricky. I started in a new team this year. Plenty of banter, which I enjoy, but one guy manages to overstep the mark on a regular basis. I feel like complaining would put a stop to the fun side of it too.
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Permalink Reply by Jayvee on
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Liz's information post is very helpful and provides comprehensive advice on what to do if you are a victim or witness of homophobic crime. I would go further and suggest calling 999 straight away. It is a hate crime after all and should be a priority for the Police.
I am more sceptical about the ASB line for reporting sexual harrassment. This is perhaps more of a problem on green lanes in as much as it happens so frequently that it has become casual normalised behaviour. I don't think that lumping sexual harrassment in with other anti social behaviours is useful.
I think that it would be a good idea to meet up or discuss ideas to tackle these further.
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So, where are we meeting and when? Let's tackle this once and for all!!!! If you would prefer to send me a private message please do.
Maybe we could start with a meeting to put together a survey so that we can go out and ask a cross section of women on green lanes what they think. Then we can maybe have a bigger meeting and invite those women along and discuss where to go from there? I'm happy to supply clipboards etc and can get surveys printed.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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There is a huge and damaging underlying hatred of women in this country - sometimes openly expressed in street harassment and violence, sometimes anonymously in the case of trolling, sometimes 'politely'(!) in parliament.
If harassment is coming from the guys working in shops towards their potential customers, then this needs to be 'outed', and security guards in the bigger shops need to be made aware of this as an issue. I am no longer of an age where it happen to me (more likely to get trodden on as though I am invisible..) but I see it all the time - yesterday a guy was almost salivating over an eleven-year-old girl in shorts and making vile 'kissy' noises at her. I can't imagine what it's like to be growing up as a girl these days - thank goodness feminism seems to be making a resurgence amongst young women.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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What about organising some Kiss-Ins ?? A great way of attracting publicity.
They've been used very successfully here in Berlin: https://flic.kr/p/6mM4DC
The occasion of an italian run ice cream parlour refusing to serve two kissing women: https://flic.kr/p/6mM6U3
Notice more male couples than female turned out to support the women.
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Right at 14:00 a rainbow appeared in the sky. A sign from heaven? It was incredible.
Demo against homophobia
Dolce Freddo, Ice café, Maaßenstraße, Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany. (edited)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/picadillybln/3515205309/
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I'd really welcome some positive action to raise awareness of this. A rally & community campaign raising awareness of inappropriate behaviour towards gay people, women & girls would be really helpful.
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Permalink Reply by Pat Mac on
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Hi everyone, Siobhan and I have booked a space in Jam In A Jar to talk about next steps and taking action. I hope you can all join us at 7pm this Thursday (16th) to discuss productive ways to combat harassment in Haringey - in all its forms. Patricia x
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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Might I suggest you local police to see if they can get involved?
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