Meet the New Problem, Same as the Old Problem
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Verbal abuse, physical violence and deadly attacks are still common when associated with homophobia in Europe. Reuters reports that the problems with homophobia are still serious in Europe and many people suffer from the hatred that exists. From the Full Report:
“Homophobia is damaging people’s health and careers across Europe and the problem may be worse than reported because victims are scared to draw attention to themselves for fear of a backlash, an EU study said.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said police in most countries were incapable of dealing with homophobic crime — ranging from verbal abuse to deadly attacks — and said many governments and schools failed to take it seriously enough.”
Among the more serious problems listed were that people suffered from harassment in the workplace, that not enough countries allowed anonymous reporting to prevent backlash against victims, people were denied refuge (in spite of a dire need for it when fleeing countries with brutally repressive regimes and no tolerance for homosexuality) and discrimination in health care, with homosexual people being treated as defective.
While some progress has been made in tolerance across Europe, most people did not believe that homosexuals should be allowed to adopt children and the report also showed that media coverage tended to use eroticized images to illustrate stories about homosexual issues, further heightening the stereotype that homosexuality is about sex alone.
It appears as though some things really do not change.
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