Romanian family’s window broken

Another Romanian family in Belfast, this time in Ballyhackamore in the east of the city, has been attacked.

The bathroom window of their home, on the Upper Newtownards Road, was smashed at about 2300 BST on Wednesday.

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This is where things are clearly out of balance. Don’t get me wrong here, quite awful for the Romanian families involved and despicable behaviour from those causing the trouble but …

Where are the national news headlines about the countless gay people who have their windows broken and are taunted near daily? We still get it here, the second home in Northampton we have lived. In comparison to our Thorplands home things are a lot better here as we have had no smashed windows. But, as the weather gets warmer so the homophobic comments and attitudes emerge loud and proud.

Last weekend we were all but harassed out of our own garden by local lads who kept starring in through the fence at us. They did not do it to anyone else sitting in their garden, it was just here. I am no longer bothered by such things, I see it as ‘normal’ shit I have to tolerate like rain. But, why should that be?

James, I am told, is now as homophobic as you like. All his woes are due to the poofs he used to live with, doesn’t have a good word to say about gay people and his little gang of buddies like nothing more than to take the piss out of gay people, gay is the new black.

So, why does a brick through the window of a Romanian family make the headlines yet every window of a gay persons house being broken repeatedly does not? It is answers on a postcard time for that question. I am guessing that racism in any form is now totally unacceptable whilst homophobia remains acceptable or, the unspoken prejudice. Everyone knows it happens but, as gay people really are not overly visible, it is far easier to detach from. Most people do now know someone from an ethnic minority, many have no clue they know any gay people. Until a situation arises where more people are openly gay, and that’s unlikely whilst we are still so vulnerable, attitudes will not change because society feels they don’t need to.