Edinburgh gays not reporting hate crimes

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A new report has found that the majority of violent homophobic attacks in Edinburgh are not reported to police.

The survey by Queen Margaret University found that only 37% of such crimes are brought to the attention of law enforcement.

Gay rights groups cited an historic mistrust of police in a community where homosexuality was not decriminalised until 1980.

“There has been a big effort by the police to build trust, but that hasn’t got through,” said Callum Irving of Stonewall Scotland.

The gay equality organisation are calling on LGBT Scots to use their votes in the elections for the Scottish Parliament next Thursday.

The outgoing Scottish executive did not include gay or disabled people in hate crimes legislation.

Both groups are currently included in the law in the rest of the UK, but the Scottish legislation only considers sectarian and racist motives.

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