Report warns of uptick in physical aggression towards LGBTI individuals

The Observatory against Homophobia (OCH) has just released its 2022 findings on the state of homophobia in Catalonia. 

They recorded 237 incidents; although 16.5% less than in 2021 with 284, this staggering figure marks the second year in a row with more than 200 cases of reported homophobic behavior in relation to someone's sexual orientation, identity, or gender expression. 

The mostly self-reported data came from both internal reports as well as reports filed with other LGBTI groups in Catalonia. The majority of cases reported were by gay men (66.5%), followed by trans women (10.6%), lesbians (10.1%), non-binary (6.7%), trans men (2.8%), and bisexual people (1.7%).

Albert Carrasco, Complaints Officer and member of OCH's management spoke to Catalan News about how these reports are compiled. "Most of our complaints are from gay men. But does this mean gay men are the most discriminated against community? No. It's because they feel the most comfortable reporting these instances with us. We've had more trouble, generally speaking, reaching women."

The average age of those filing the reports was 32.6 years and 40.8% of incidents took place on weekends but in a variety of settings, from the internet and social networks to public streets, the workplace, and night-time leisure spots. 

Across Catalonia, Barcelona was the province that saw the most discrimination. 44.8% of all cases occurred in the major city, followed by 20.8% in Tarragona, Girona with 20.1%, and finally, Lleida with 14.3% of cases, taking into account the population proportion in each of the provinces.
 

The largest portion of reports involved physical aggression (24.9%). This "alarming" figure is made even more so by the drastic spike it has seen since 2021 when 17% of cases involved physical aggression. 

The report found that verbal aggression by itself constituted 55 cases (23.2%), and displays of hatred and exaltation made up 20.3% with 48 cases. 

Carrasco also provided insight into how 2023 numbers were shaping up. "In the first six months of 2023, we've reported 160 instances of LGBTI discrimination in Catalonia. Considering we ended last 2022 with 237, we're on course to surpass that figure this year. June and July, during Pride, tend to be when people report these instances to us the most because it's when the community is more present in the public sphere and in debates." This uptick in cases reported over the months of March, May, and June was observed in 2022's figures as well. 

Other instances when the number of reports increased were around times of political debate. The passing of the Spanish self-determination law in February was one of these instances. The new legislation now allows individuals to legally change their gender without a medical report attesting to gender dysphoria or proof of having undergone hormone treatment for two years.

During the period of debate before the law was passed, Carrasco noted "the media would interview professionals about their opinion on the law's content, and we found that some described it as "an aberration", that it set out to give children hormones and whatnot. There have been people who have expressed their opinion in a very forceful and rude way and we've noticed an uptick in hate speech against trans or LGBTI people on social media and led to increasingly intense debates." 

Aside from sparking more hate speech and incidents against the community, these debates have caused more LGBTQI+ people to take back their voices and speak out against the discrimination they face. 

"Hate speech and the far right, on the one hand, are on the rise," Carrasco said "but the alarm bells this has sounded in the LGBTI community has encouraged further activism on their part because they see that their rights are in danger and feel empowered to report any discrimination."

If the conservative People's Party wins the election and forms a coalition government with far-right Vox, there could be a number of consequences for the LGBTQ+ community, such as the rollback of existing legal rights or hindering trans people's access to specialized health services. 

To continue to protect LGBTQ+ citizens across Catalonia, the OCH made a number of suggestions. They encouraged authorities to increase the current breadth of the systems in place to address these incidents and to allocate increased resources to implementing policies towards their prevention, detection, and intervention. In order to expand the reach of their data, they suggested a network of reporting centers and groups, from local councils to other LGBTI+ organizations and even the police to get a better idea of how widespread these LGBT-phobic incidents are. 

Check out our podcast on the LBGTQI+ community in Catalonia, published July 2023.