Fri 30 October, 8 – 10pm, Trafalgar Sq, London

In the past few months there has been a worrying rise in homophobic attacks and incidents across the country. They represent an attempt to create a climate of fear and hatred and should set alarm bells ringing.

The vigil has been called in response and it is vital that gay & straight activists opposed to homophobia and all forms of bigotry and oppression come along so please send this out to friends, comrades, activists and family.

Events like we saw last Sunday in Liverpool when 20 young people set upon James Parkes, an off-duty trainee police officer, while he was out with friends have to be stamped out. This follows the horrific attack and subsequent death of Ian Baynham, a 62 year old man who died after he suffered homophobic violence near Trafalgar Square in central London.

The likes of Daily Mail’s Jan Moir have added to the homophobic climate by unleashing a disgusting attack on Boyzone singer Stephen Gately after his death. Moir wrote, “Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one… For once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.”

And Nazi Nick Griffin was also able to flaunt his racism and homophobia on BBC’s Question Time saying that “A lot of people find the sight of two men kissing in public a bit creepy. I understand that homosexuals don’t understand that, but that is how a lot of us feel.”

The number of homophobic crimes in London reported to the Metropolitan Police rose by almost a fifth in the last year and a study by the LGBT rights group Stonewall last year found that one in five lesbians and gay men in London had experienced a homophobic incident in the past three years.

But LGBT campaigners are standing up against these attacks. Just like when the Soho bombing took place, large numbers of LGBT people joined with others at the BBC protest last week and the most popular chant was `We are black, white and Asian and we’re Jews – and we’re Gay!’

And more than 25,000 people complained to the Press Complaints Commission about the Moir article, the highest ever number it has received.

People have shown time and time again that they are opposed to the hatred and dispair spread by the BNP and those who think bigotry is the answer to societies problems. We have to stand together and say `never again’ will we accept anyone being scared or beaten off our streets because of their sexuality or race.

The Facebook group 17-24-30 has organised a candlelit vigil against hate crime and to remember Ian Baynham in Trafalgar Square at the heart of London between 8pm and 10pm, this Friday 30 October. Join us!