A lesbian student has said she is scared to be openly affectionate with her girlfriend in public in Sheffield.
Fiona Barrett, a 20-year-old who has lived in Sheffield for two years, claims she has experienced LGBTQ+ hate, primarily on West Street and the city centre.
She said: “I was walking with my girlfriend on West Street and when we started to hug and kiss, a man threw a can of something at us.
“It made me feel so angry as I didn’t understand why it was such a bad thing to be affectionate with my partner.
“It was the first time I’d experienced physical violence so that felt very intimidating.”
Miss Barrett also said a rise in queer hate in the media after the recent Tory Party Conference has increased these fears.
At this conference, Rishi Sunak said to his delegates in Manchester: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be.
“They can’t, a man is a man and a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense.”
Since the conference at the start of October, the LGBTQ+ community have hit back against Sunak, including Sheffield Radical Pride (SRP).
SRP are a group campaigning for a return to the grassroot origins of Pride, free from corporations, the state, police, and ‘pinkwashing’.
A spokesperson for SRP told the Steel Speaker: “I’m cis, but I would say that his transphobic policies are cruel and unnecessary while deflecting from the fact that his government has done nothing for women’s safety.
“This is a populist diversion that serves as both a god whistle to transphobes and a distraction from the fact that he’s done nothing but harm marginalised people.”
Miss Barrett said: “After this, it feels like the discrimination against queer people is just escalating.
“Our safety cannot be guaranteed because of the influence the government has.”
Miss Barrett also claims when she goes into one popular bar on West Street with her girlfriend, she feels unsafe.
She said: “We sometimes get touched up or stared at for being gay or kissing which would not happen to a straight couple.
“I now no longer go into some bars or places out of fear of experiencing hate crimes for loving my partner.”