In 2015 the Liverpool ONE Foundation awarded Thinking Film Ltd funding for an exceptional project working with young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) people, across Merseyside, who have experienced Homophobic, Biphobic or Transphobic (HBT) bullying.
The project was a bold attempt to confront the homophobia and intolerance across the city. In 2013/14 a hate crime targeting Merseyside's LGBT community was reported every 24 hours with 359 such crimes being reported to the Police (with the real number of hate crime incidents likely to be much higher, as many go unreported).
Danny Kilbride, Creative Director of Thinking Film, designed the project to give young people the chance to tell their stories in their own voice and highlight this shocking statistic. By narrating their stories on camera, Danny hopes that the young people will feel that their experiences of bullying and harassment are valuable; that by shining a light on the unacceptable way they’ve been treated in the past, they will be able to better cope with the future.
Danny’s film is to become a resource for local schools, complementing workshops around homophobia and sexuality more widely across the region, a fantastic achievement.
Outcomes of the project:
You can watch all the sotries told by young people across Merseyside here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmrRG2ilN31gcJibev557gQ
