Patrick Harvie condemns verbal abuse at campaign event

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has warned of a rise in homophobia after being verbally abused while on the campaign trail.

The MSP called a passer-by a "bigot" after he shouted out a slur during an interview with BBC Scotland News.

Mr Harvie was speaking at his party's campaign launch for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.

He said "toxic forces" had caused an increase in attacks on the LGBT+ community.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said the party would report the incident to Police Scotland.

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The man interrupted Mr Harvie's interview to urge voters not to back his party, before calling him "deviant".

The Scottish Greens co-leader told BBC Scotland News: "The fact is there are some pretty toxic forces in politics at the moment that have unleashed homophobia and transphobia in a way that we haven't seen in many, many years.

"Those who have cultivated this nasty kind of culture war against minorities need to take responsibility for verbal abuse like that but also for violence that we've seen rising against LGBT+ people."

It came after two men were stabbed in a homophobic attack outside a south London nightclub.

Hate crime increase

The Scottish Greens have also been vocal supporters of the Scottish government's gender recognition reforms. Debate about the legislation, which was blocked by the UK government, has at times been highly polarised.

A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service report released in June found there had been 1,884 hate crime charges based on a person's sexual orientation in 2022-23, an increase of 2% on the previous year. The number of such charges reported has increased every year since 2014-15.

There were 55 charges reported in 2022-23 relating to hate crimes against transgender people. This was lower than the 86 charges reported in 2021-22 but was the second highest number reported since 2010.

Mr Harvie was speaking at the launch of Scottish Green candidate Cameron Eadie's campaign for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, which was triggered by the removal of former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier after she was convicted of breaking Covid rules.