Over Half Of Gay Men In UK Afraid To Hold Hands In Public

Holding hands with hubby Michael at a concert

A new study conducted by Stonewall asked 5,000 members of the LGBTQ community in Britain about hate crimes and discrimination.

The results may, or may not, surprise you:

• 38% of all respondents reported being afraid to hold their partner’s hand; that number jumped to 58% among gay men

• 21% have experienced a hate crime or incident due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the last 12 months

• 81% who experienced a hate crime or incident didn’t report it to the police

• 41% have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months and one in six LGB people, who aren’t trans (16 per cent), have experienced a hate crime or incident due to their sexual orientation in the same period

• 10% have experienced homophobic, biphobic or transphobic abuse online directed towards them personally in the last month

A few years ago, a straight friend of mine was surprised when I casually mentioned I rarely hold hubby Michael's hand in public. We just didn't feel that safe.

That anxiety slowly crept into our private life, and I'm now aware that we almost never hold hands at all. Societal pressures basically beat it out of us.

The above pic is from a Brad Paisley concert we attended a few years ago. It's one of the few times I recall holding hands in public.