Leeds Pride 2024: LGBTQ+ Legal Rights Explained

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Sunday marks the day of Leeds Pride, which celebrates all things LGBTQ+ in our city centre.

Colourful acts, drag, and live music will take to the streets to commemorate love, equality and friendship for all.

Gay Pride has been celebrated for decades, to remember the Stonewall Riots, which took place in 1969. The riots, which occurred in New York City, galvanised the gay rights movement and fought for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.

Shockingly, until the late 1960s, being part of the LGBTQ+ community was a criminal offence in many countries, including the UK. This led to the LGBTQ+ community experiencing violent attacks and discrimination from police and the wider community just because of their gender or sexuality.

Although the world is a very different place today, unfortunately, discrimination, abuse and hate crimes are still carried out against the LGBTQ+ community. Some of these terrible offences include physical attacks by strangers on the street or being discriminated against at work.

However, in society today, these types of attacks are punishable by law and can see the perpetrator serve jail time or be fined for their actions. Victims of this type of abuse may also be eligible to claim compensation for the damages they suffered.

At Oakwood Solicitors Ltd we can assist you in these types of claims, and have experience dealing with crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.

We have rounded up some occurrences where you may be entitled to claim compensation:

Hate Crimes

What is a hate crime?

A hate crime is defined by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as any crime if the offender has either:

Demonstrated hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity
Or been motivated by hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity

Types of hate crime

Hate crime can take three forms:

Physical assault – Physical assault of any kind is an offence.
Verbal abuse – This includes verbal abuse, threats or name-calling.
Incitement to hatred – The offence of incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a threatening way and intended to stir up hatred. That could be in words, pictures, videos or music, and includes information posted on websites.

How to report a hate crime

There are a few different ways you can report a hate crime. We have broken down the options for you.

Police – You can call 999 (emergency) or 101 (non-emergency), go in person at any police station, or report online.
Third parties – Some hate crime victims may find visiting or calling the police stations daunting, so third parties are in place to overcome these barriers. Charities such as SAYiT and Stop Hate UK will be able to take details of the offence and contact the relevant police force on your behalf.
Crimestoppers – If you want to pass details of a hate crime (or any other) offender but do not want to talk to the police, you can also call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or via their website at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. You do not have to give your name and what you say is confidential. It is free to call.

Claiming compensation for a hate crime

If you have been a victim of a hate crime, you may be entitled to claim compensation for the damages you have suffered.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) awards compensation to those who have sustained an injury due to an act of criminal violence. However, as this is a government-run scheme there is a strict criteria you have to adhere to be successful in your claim.

By using a qualified solicitor, we can assist you in putting the best case forward to return the rightful compensation you are entitled to. We can also appeal on your behalf if we believe the offer for compensation is not as much as you should be entitled to.

We have broken down everything you need to know about claiming compensation from the CICA for a hate crime.

What is a Crime of Violence?

The CICA defines a ‘Crime of Violence’ as a crime which, by intention or recklessness, involves any of the following:

A physical attack
Any other act (or failure to act) of a violent nature which causes physical injury to a person
A threat against a person causing fear of immediate violence
Sexual assault
Arson

What is a ‘relevant place’?

According to the CICA, to make a successful claim, the offence must have taken place in a relevant place – which means Great Britain.

However, some further niche areas fall under the CICA’s definition. This includes a British-controlled aircraft, a British-controlled hovercraft, or a lighthouse off the coast of Great Britain.

How long do I have to make a claim?

As a general rule, the crime must have taken place within the last two years to put in a criminal injury application to the CICA. There can be exceptions to this rule if, due to exceptional circumstances, the applicant could not have applied earlier.

If an applicant was a child under the age of 18 on the date of the criminal incident, they have until they turn 20 years old to submit a claim.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police have been known to tell an individual not to put in a claim to the CICA until after a criminal investigation has concluded however this can put you in severe danger of missing the pre-imposed deadlines that have been set.

Other CICA conditions I need to adhere to:

The crime must have been reported to the police as soon as ‘reasonably practicable’
The applicant must have fully co-operated with the police
The applicant must fully cooperate with the CICA claims officer

How much compensation will I get?

The CICA calculates awards for criminal injury compensation using a tariff that contains provisions for both physical and psychological injuries.

It pays out on up to three injuries if each is so serious that they would qualify for individual awards, calculated as follows:

100% of the injury that achieves the highest compensation
30% of an injury that is worth either equal to the most serious injury or the second-highest compensation
15% of an injury that is worth either equal to the second most serious injury or the third-highest compensation
There are also additional payments for losses that may be claimed, 3 are shown below with examples:

Common awards

A fractured jaw bone resulting in ongoing problems. This would be valued at £3,500 and could rise to £6,200 if an operation had taken place.
Facial scarring causes serious disfigurement. This could be valued up to £11,000.
Injuries resulting in permanent tinnitus which is very severe can be valued at £16,500.
Loss of teeth could be valued up to £3,500
A permanent and seriously disabling psychological injury, with a potential value of up to £27,000.

Loss of earnings

If your injury has caused you to miss a significant amount of work, then you may be able to claim for loss of earnings. If you have missed work for over 28 weeks, there is the option to add a claim for lost earnings to your CICA application.

You will be paid from the 29th week onwards that you have missed work and payments will be made via statutory sick pay rates. Supporting evidence must be provided from your doctor or employer to demonstrate that you were unfit for work for the length of time mentioned above.

Special expenses

Special expenses, such as medical expenses and alterations to your household, that have arisen as a result of your injury may also be claimed for. These expenses must be reasonable and will not be available if you received them for free, e.g. through the NHS.

Support for hate crime victims

LGBTQ+ Discrimination – The law

It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of:

Age
Gender reassignment
Being married or in a civil partnership
Being pregnant or on maternity leave
Disability
Race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation

These are called ‘protected characteristics’.

Where you are protected

At work
In education
As a consumer
When using public services
When buying or renting a property
As a member or guest of a private club or association

You’re legally protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010.

You are also protected from discrimination if:

You’re associated with someone who has a protected characteristic, for example, a family member or friend
You’ve complained about discrimination or supported someone else’s claim

Discrimination at work

The law protects you against discrimination at work, including:

Dismissal
Employment terms and conditions
Pay and benefits
Promotion and transfer opportunities
Training
Recruitment
Redundancy

Some forms of discrimination are only allowed if they’re needed for the way the organisation works, for example:

A Roman Catholic school restricting applications for admission of pupils to Catholics only
Employing only women in a health centre for Muslim women

What does workplace discrimination look like?

Discrimination in the workplace is not necessarily obvious. Please see below the different forms of discrimination which may present themselves in the workplace:

Direct Discrimination – Treating a person less favourably because of one or more Protected Characteristics.
Indirect Discrimination – There may be a workplace provision, criterion, or practice (PCP) which is not intended to be discriminatory but which has the effect of disadvantaging employees with a particular Protected Characteristic. For example, a policy that unfairly disadvantages a group of employees with one of the Protected Characteristics.
Harassment – Harassment occurs when an employee is subjected to unwanted conduct relating to one or more Protected Characteristics which has the purpose or effect of either violating the employee’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for the employee.
Victimisation – Victimisation means being ‘punished’ for reporting something at work that you believe is unfair such as being discriminated against.

What should I do if I have been discriminated against?

If you believe that you are being mistreated at work because of one of the protected characteristics, you may have a discrimination claim.

Please contact Oakwood Solicitors Ltd as soon as possible to speak to one of our employment advisors.