Liverpool attacks: 'Things must change or LGBT people won't feel safe'

"It's 2021, things are supposed to be better for us now," says 19-year-old Josh Ormrod.

Josh is a music student from Buxton, living in Liverpool, and he's bisexual. In the early hours of 17 June, he was beaten up outside a bar in the city.

The photos he shared of his injuries, posted on Instagram a day later, have been liked more than 350,000 times.

"This isn't about me. I wasn't sharing it for my own gain," he tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"I was sharing it so that other people are made aware of what's happening to our community, and so that our community knows to be more careful than they usually would have to be.

"It is personal in a way, but it's also completely the opposite."

• Protest held over homophobic attacks in city

Josh says CCTV footage from the night shows him exchange words with a man on the street, who then turns around and attacks him. He says his attacker called him a homophobic slur.

"A 26-year-old man from Bolton was arrested on suspicion of Section 47 assault," says a statement from Merseyside Police.

"He has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries."

But it's not just Josh. He's one of several young LGBT men who've been attacked in Liverpool in the past month.

Curtis Stewart was attacked by a man on 14 June.

Tyler Jones says his attackers used homophobic language and pulled a knife before assaulting him and two gay male friends, earlier this month.

And Greg Hewitt told the BBC North West his leg was fractured in a recent attack.

"The incidents we have seen in the city in recent weeks have understandably caused anger and some fear among those communities targeted with homophobic and transphobic abuse," Superintendent Sarah Kenwright said in a statement.

"It is heartening to see so many speak in solidarity with the victims, and to say with a united voice that such behaviour simply has no place in Merseyside."

Several arrests have been made by Merseyside Police in the past month, but so far no charges have been brought.

Josh says he has "no complaints" about how the police have handled his case.

'More has to be done'

But he does want more done to protect other LGBT people from experiencing what he, Curtis, Tyler and Greg have been through.

"People need to be aware that these things still happen to us on a scarily regular basis," he says.

"More has to be done to change that, because otherwise it will never stop and we will never feel safe.

"This spate of attacks seems to be very much a random occurrence, but it can't be coincidental."

He wants more legislation on "what defines a hate crime" so they aren't classed as assault.

Because of these attacks, Merseyside Police has stepped up police patrols in Liverpool city centre.

'Stand in solidarity with us'

A protest took place in the city on 22 June, and organiser Harvey Bowen, perhaps better-known in Liverpool as drag queen Naya, told the BBC they were "overwhelmed" by how many people turned out.

Josh didn't go to the protest because he was at home recovering from his injuries. But he wrote a statement which was read out to the crowds of people who packed Liverpool's streets.

"The turnout was just amazing," he says.

"You could never have predicted that that many people would feel comfortable, especially now, to go out there and stand in solidarity with us.

"In fact, that they all did says more about the city than idiots attacking gay men."

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