10/05/2021
It's been fourteen years since the murder of Sophie Lancaster. The young goth woman and her boyfriend were brutally attacked by a gang of heterosexual youths, some as young as fourteen years of age, as they quietly walked home one summer's evening in 2007. The case underlined how the hatred and prejudice of people who consider themselves the “normals” in society affects anyone who doesn't fit in – whether they are gay, trans, goths, punks, bookish, disabled or physically different, and the case resonated strongly with LGBTQ people, many of whom have personal experience of verbal abuse or worse, from straights and normals. Now, ITV's flagship soap opera, Coronation Street is to feature their goth character, Nina, being assaulted by a posse of braying heterosexual thugs in a sinister underpass. The hard hitting storyline was developed with the assistance of Sophie Lancaster's family. Ian McLeod, for Coronation Street told the BBC News Channel that the programme wanted to explore the devastating impact of prejudice and hatred on people's lives and that a conscious decision had been made to introduce the character of Nina over a long period, so the audience could get to know her and understand her, before this storyline had developed. The BBC Action Line has more information on hatred and prejudice and support for people who are abused because of their difference from mainstream culture. https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline. And the Sophie Lancaster Foundation continues to campaign in the arena of tolerance and diversity with particular attention to subcultural groups. Here is their brand new website: https://www.sophielancasterfoundation.com/
