Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee Pride create education programme after 40% rise in hate crimes

Dundee Pride
Kenny Christie said that the rise in hate crimes was "worrying". DCT

Dundee Pride have launched a workplace education programme after a record number of hate crimes in the city.

Kenny Christie, secretary of Dundee Pride, said the 40%  rise in hate crime against LGBTQ+ people in Dundee was “really worrying”.

Annual statistics released by the Crown Office show 69 crimes motivated by sexual orientation were reported last year, up 20 on the previous year.

Dundee Pride is now working with major organisations in a bid to combat the issue.

Dundee Pride
Dundee Pride are working with groups like Dundee Football Club. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Kenny said: “I think the rise in hate crimes is really worrying.

“People are now more forthright in reporting things – which is actually a good thing in a way.

“But the fact that the numbers are high are not a good thing.

“All too often in the media we hear stories about what happens in other countries, with horrific stories about human rights and LGBTQ+ rights in other countries.

“But actually when you take a magnifying glass, there are still instances here of hate crime. And that’s what it is and we should call it out for what it is.

“That doesn’t mean that someone has to be physically abused in the street, this could be verbally abused, or abused in the workplace.”

Dundee Pride
Dundee Pride hope to educate more people against hate crimes. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Discrimination

Kenny said that he himself is no stranger to workplace discrimination, saying that he had been subjected to “homophobia from senior people at major companies”.

He added: “Sometimes people can turn a blind eye or say something is generational or that’s just the way they are about things.

“Well it’s not good enough and it really does have to change.

“What we’re keen to do with Dundee Pride is promote a culture of respect through equality and diversity training.”

Dundee Pride have been working with organisations such as Dundee Football Club and Dundee and Angus college to provide training and support.

Dundee Pride say there is still work to be done around inclusivity.  Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Kenny said: “We’re working on supporting partners, agencies and businesses with this package of support about equality, diversity and inclusive practice, through talks and information.

“There’s still a lot of work to do there. That’s something that we’re keen to work with people to do.

“Dundee Pride is only one organisation, so we can’t do it all ourselves.

“So it’s for people to recognise within their own organisations, if there’s something they feel we can do to reach out and we can provide that and support them.”

In March, the group also launched a befriending programme called Reach Out.

The service offers text and call support to Dundee’s LGBT community in a bid to end isolation and loneliness.

You can find out more about Dundee Pride here.