A powerful new billboard campaign has been rolled out across Scotland, tackling homophobia and transphobia as part of a broader effort to stop hate crimes.
Funded by the Scottish government and Police Scotland, the large billboards address homophobes and transphobes with bold messages signed by the Scottish public.
The first states: “Dear transphobes, do you think it’s right to harass people in the street? Right to push transgender people around in clubs? Right to humiliate, intimidate and threaten them online? Well we don’t.
“That’s why if we see you doing harm, we’re reporting you. We believe people should be allowed to be themselves. Except if they’re spreading hate.
“Yours, Scotland.”
The second reads: “Dear homophobes, we have a phobia of your behaviour.
“If you torment people because of who they love, shout words that we are not going to write, or use violence because you don’t like who someone is holding hands with, you should be worried.
“If we see or hear your abuse, we’re calling the police. That’s because love lives in this country, not hate.
“Yours, Scotland.”
With ads also addressing racism, representatives from t campaign, explained: “Police Scotland takes hate crime very seriously.
Source: One Scotland
They continued: “In the last year there were over 5,300 charges of hate crime reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland. However, there are many more incidents that go unreported."
The campaign officially launches in Scotland today.
