Blackburn - Goths and emos found a place to go

After all the earlier Blackburn fuss in October about the "dangers" of goths, metalers and emos on the streets alternative venue The Cellar Bar and pub The White Rose are now offering them a place to hang out safely. Much kudos to the managers/landlords involved.

It was Doddy who commented on the SOPHIE campaign page:

"i dont know if you know , maybe its old news but two pubs in blackburn town centre shut their doors to over 18's on a saturday afternoon to let in the goths n emos or whatever to give em somewhere to go , form 12 til 6 i think . one week it is the white bull and the next is the cellar bar . i think these landlords/ladys should be applauded for their actions because i presume that they will be losing a bit of cash by stopping serving alcohol."

Another great looking gig.

Thugs use goon bag to bash goths - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes

Thugs use goon bag to bash goths - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes

Christine Kellett | November 14, 2007 - 2:32PM

Two men have faced court over a violent assault which saw a group of goths bashed with a goon bag.

Luke Anthony Harrison, 21, and Mereki Ian Pryor, 19, were each sentenced to jail for the attack, which left five members of Brisbane's gothic community nursing cuts and bruises.

The District Court today heard Harrison and Pryor had been drinking goon - or cask wine - in a park at the corner of Wickham Terrace and Ann Street in Fortitude Valley about 10.30pm on July 30, 2005 when the group walked past.

After shouting insults such as "freaks" and "faggots", Pryor approached the three women and two men, aged between 19 and 24, asked them if they wanted to fight and began throwing punches and kicks.

Harrison, carrying the bag of goon, also became involved, using it to take a swing at one of the women, knocking her glasses off her face. Another woman was also hit.

Crown prosecutor Chris Minnery said one of the group managed to grab the cask.

"F*** off or I'll break the goon," she said while threatening to stomp on the bag.

The attack stopped when the group managed to flee to safety at the nearby Orient Hotel. None were seriously injured.

Pryor's defence barrister, Megan Robbins, put her client's behaviour down to alcohol abuse, telling the court that at the time he was drinking up to three litres of cask wine a day.

"His judgement was obviously impaired to a significant degree," Ms Robbins explained, prompting Judge Julie Dick to fire back: "His liver can't have been too good either."

"This is public violence on a group of people who were just going about their business," the judge told the pair, who both pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning bodily harm in company.

"They are entitled to dress and look how they like as long as they don't interfere with the rest of the community."

Pryor, who is already serving a three-and-a-half year prison term for unrelated offences, had an extra six months added to his sentence, but will be eligible to apply for parole today.

Harrison received a 12 month term and was released immediately on parole after Judge Dick accepted he had played a lesser role in the assault.

Another articles adds a few new details:
Men 'bashed goths with wine cask'
NEWS.com.au, Australia - November 14, 2007

By Christine Flatley Two men have faced court over a vicious street brawl where a cask wine bladder was used to beat up a group of "goths" in Brisbane. ...

Pryor - who had a severe alcohol problem at the time and was drinking up to three litres of wine every day - approached the group and began to provoke them before hitting one of the men three times in the head.

The court was told a fight erupted, with Pryor and Harrison kicking and punching the men and the women, who tried to defend themselves.

The court was told Harrison picked up the wine bladder at one point and used it to smack one of the girls across the face.

Pryor and Harrison then knocked one of the men to the ground and kicked him repeatedly.

The group managed to escape and took refuge in a nearby pub.

They suffered bruising and cuts to their faces and bodies.

Harrison and Pryor pleaded guilty to four counts each of assault occasioning bodily harm in company.Pryor also pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.

Mix it up Day - USA

It was Mix It up day in the States yesterday an attempt to break down divisions between racial and social groups, including subcultural ones. It is a long standing idea in the States starting in 2002. Now more than 10,000 schools are involved.

ABC News 4 Charleston - Mixing Up Racial And Social Divides At Hanahan Middle School
Tuesday November 13, 2007 5:40pm Reporter: Renee Williams

Hanahan, S. Carolina - Hanahan Middle School participates in Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a national social experiment aimed at teaching students tolerance.

Think back, way back to your middle school lunch time. You’re sitting with the same friends, day in and day out and being a part of your group. Now imagine this- taking all of that and turning it upside down.

“Students are going to come in. They're going to take the initiative to sit with someone they don't know well,” Elizabeth Scarbrough says.

She’s the one who organized the school’s Mix it Up at Lunch Day. In other words, they’re mixing it up and changing who they talk to everyday. The students are also making new friends while breaking up old cliques.

“Some kids are left out they don't have many friends and then you have some groups who are friends with everybody,” eighth grader Nick Zerbst says.

Mix it Up at Lunch aims to break the harsh social divide of middle school.
The experiment tries to melt the jocks with the goths and the popular kids.
It’s not always easy to just strike up a conversation with someone you don't know. To help break the ice, the kids came up with questions to ask each other like do you like Clemson or Carolina or do you play sports? Even with the ice breakers the nerves are obvious.

“People are trying to be popular. People feel left out they can't really make friends because they're all shy,” adds eighth grader Kenneth Spear.

Whether they’re shy or not, more than 200 students pledged to give it a try. “Here's the 6th grade doing it. It’s really working well. Maybe someone in a higher social status can bring them up,” Zerbst says.

Middle school kids typically divide themselves along gender, racial and economic lines. They learn those divides early on. So these kids are pledging and promising to cross age old boundaries, if only for one day. “These prejudices and these cliques actually start to form at age three to its very important that we catch them at the middle school age,” adds Scarbrough.

SPLCenter.org: Millions take part in fourth annual Mix It UpDecember 2005

Fourth- and 5th-graders in Sweetwater, Texas, embrace the spirit of Mix It Up.
(Bruno at Holly Kuper Photography)
SWEETWATER, Texas -- When 350 intermediate students Mixed It Up here, spirits rose as high as their red, white and blue helium balloons

"That's what I love about 4th- and 5th-graders," said school counselor and Mix It Up at Lunch Day facilitator Melissa Howard. "They are still so into everything."

In 2005, the number of participants also rose -- dramatically. Across the nation on November 15, and estimated four million students at 9,000 schools took part in the fourth annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day. That's a 50 percent increase from 2004, when 4 million students took part nationwide.

Mix It Up, part of the Center's Teaching Tolerance program, asks students to swap seats in the school cafeteria -- one of the most self-segregating settings in the nation. Football players sit with football players; cheerleaders, with cheerleaders. Band members at the table in the corner; Goths at one table; Spanish-speaking students at another.

Consider how a high school senior from Phoenix described her school cafeteria on this year's Mix It Up at Lunch Day: "That section over there is where the jocks usually sit, and this part by the benches is where the skaters are, and then the gangs are all along the walls."

A 9th-grader from Oregon took part in a discussion about school cliques on Mix It Up at Lunch Day and came away with a deeper understanding.

"I learned they (various school cliques) don't really talk to each other," she said. "It's important to get groups to mingle. In the real world, you have to mingle whether you want to or not."

On Mix It Up Day, clearly, some do not. In Philadelphia, one high school student called it "annoying." In Florida, one student called it "childish," labeling participants "losers."

"The resistance is a clear sign of why the program is so important," said Tafeni English, director of the Mix It Up program. "Mix It Up is about social boundaries, and those boundaries don't dissolve in a single day or a single moment. But every time we get some students talking and thinking about the boundaries, we're taking steps in the right direction."...

POEM: Vegetable Soup

April 19, 2006 -- Two students at King George High School in Virginia write about the various social cliques in their school.

by Katie Newton and Laura McKinnon


King George High School is full of cliques

"The Wall," the Goths and the hot chicks.

It's hard enough to be a teen

Without having to deal with these kids - they're mean!

First of all, you've got "The Wall"

A sea of darkness, always having a ball.

Getting their kicks from picking on us

They laugh and they point, and they even cuss.

I know the teachers aren't hearing impaired

But they won't say anything 'cause they're too scared.

The Goths are the next crowd; they stay to themselves

Some dress like vampires, and some like dark elves.

They hate their lives, and the world, and us,

They won't be happy until their wounds seep pus.

The hot chicks are last because they're the worst

If you're not skinny and blonde consider yourself cursed.

Malibu Barbies with their fake tans

Always succeeding in stealing our "mans."

I want to break free

And then there are ones like me.

I have a friend in every group,

Like a giant pot of vegetable soup.

Carrots, peas and noodles, too,

I like being vegetable soup.

What kind of soup are you?

Some interesting comments from kids involved in the past. Lots more here:

Don't hate what you don't understand
Keala

Every one knows how the "goths" and the "preps" have hated each other for so many years now. I am considered a goth at my school, but I have friends from virtually every clique. I hate how people think if you are a certain way, you have to be friends with just that group! I dislike how the jocks make fun of my friends and how they torment us because we have an opinion. Most people think "goths" are suicidal, and that they worship Satan. Satanists worship Satan not "goths." I judge people but it's because when they hang out with others they become like that friend. I just hate how everyone hates "goths." Just because we are different doesn't mean you have to hate us. A great man once said "To be great is to be misunderstood" (Ralph Waldo Emerson) just as being different is to be great!

Another way to Mix It Up
Lindsey
It is true there are many cliques at our school, like the so-called 'gangster table' or the 'nerd table', but our lunch is only 25 minutes long, so one day would not create friendships. If it were my idea I would have it happen at least one Tuesday a month because once a year really wouldn't cut it, if you think about it. If it was held every Tuesday, then you would be forced to talk to them or exclude yourself, which shouldn't happen by the way. But instead of sitting at a new table every Tuesday, you could sit at the same color table and create friendships with those people, and after like 3 months they switch everyone, something like that.

Mix doesn't work
Bob
I HATE MIX IT UP DAY! ITS STUPID AND IT NEVER WORKS!

It was hard, but I did it
Jackie
Today at my school we had Mix It Up Day. It was very fun because we got to meet new people! Usually, I sit with my best friend, Marilyn. We always sit at the same table. It was very hard to do this but I did it. I am proud that I was brave enough to sit with totally different people whom I didn't know. Thank you for making this day exist!

Being judged sucks
Kim
In my school, people judge you by one thing: where you shop and what you wear. It's not, oh, you are so nice, or eh, you're really mean to everyone, or, you annoy me on purpose, it's that you shop here. I for one, shop at Hot Topic, a store that has been deemed rather "Gothic," but yet, has more leather alternatives than places like Wet Seal and Mervyn's, and most of the makeup in there has not been tested on animals. I am a vegetarian, in case you were wondering why I am talking about that sort of thing. People think I'm Gothic just because I shop there.

Most cliques in my school, really aren't defined by a name, it's just certain people. There's the normal people, who are more often than not popular; the freaks, who are just plain rude to everyone; the loser/skaters who made do good in school, but half of them are just, well, rather, odd; there are the skaters, the people that I hang out with some; the preps, the people who will do anything to make themselves look perfect; the potheads, people who do drugs; the sugar junkies, people who are just plain crazy; there's the jocks, who are obsessed with any kind of sport; fashionistas, people who love clothes; and then, there's what I've been defined as, a Gothic. Really though, I am a punk rock enviro skater. These cliques, aren't people I have judged. It's just where they fall in my school according to what they wear and how they act. I wear bondage pants (the big pants that have D-rings and straps on them) and because of that I'm Gothic. If you noticed, I put nothing down on Environmentally Conscious people, that's because I'm really the only one who cares about that in my school. I'm just me, and being judged differently sucks. It sucks hard.

Don't make us do it again
Damien
I'm using this little thing to tell you what I think about Mix It Up. I think its a waste of time and is not going to do anything but cause more problems. NO student I have talked to bout this said it was a good idea. There is talk of skipping lunch to avoid having to participate and also talk of deliberate defiance. I am one of the students who will NOT participate. I won't be forced to sit with people I don't like. I don't like people, not because of their differences, but because of their personality. If I was someone who sat by myself at lunch I wouldn't want people to sit with me because they had to, rather because they want to. I know I speak for a good 75% of my school when I say this is lame... don't make us do it again.

Lowest social group
Brittany
Mix It Up Day was ok for some students, but let me tell you, Mix It Up Day at Lunch did not go so well for me. I tried sitting with the "preppy" kids. But they just made fun of me and told me to go away. It doesn't matter how much you think it's a good thing, when a "goth" sits with a "prep" it doesn't go over very smoothly. It was a success for the older kids to sit with freshman and everything - kids sitting with other kids that aren't really different than them. But this was just... yeah. When the lowest social group sat with the highest at my school, it was not a good lunch.

PeaceJam brings food to Mix
Cornelia

I go to school at Tohatchi High School in New Mexico. I am in 11th grade. My group, PeaceJam, brought food for the people to eat in the classrooms. The students said it was nice to meet different students at our school. We got all the athletes, skaters and Goths to sit with the people they don't know. We had a good time with the students. But some of the students said they were shy because they don't know the students they were sitting by.

Mix was awesome
Kileigh

Mix-it-up-at-lunch day was awesome at my school. We each got a buddy to walk around with, and to hang out with in different groups. It was so fun. Everyone crossed the boundaries of preps, jocks, Goths, geeks, African Americans and those types of things. I met new people and have so many new friends now that I will never forget. I met some awesome people I would never have had the guts to go up to, and hang out with, on a normal day. It makes school such a better atmosphere when you know more people. I learned that all these people are so cool in their own ways and they all have their own types of fun. I hope this day becomes a tradition for my school district. I'll never forget this day! Thanks so much for the great idea!!

Racism and Religious Bigotry
By J.S.

I am a daughter of a United States Marine and because of that I have moved around the country a lot. I have seen and experienced many different things.

I have experienced racism, not from my white classmates, but from my black classmates. I have seen people blamed for things that are not in their control like a Wiccan at my school, who is harassed not only by kids, but in less obvious ways by teachers.

Right now my worst battle is not with anyone I know from school. It's from my mom. She thinks some of my friends are devil-worshippers just because they are goth, and when I told her some of them are actually Christians, she acted surprised!

When I told her that goths are actually some of the most tolerant and peaceful people I know because they don't care what religion, color, sexual orientation you are, she told me to shut up.

How's that for tolerance?

By C.

In my school there aren't many different groups such as freaks, geeks and wannabees, but there are some such as myself, a goth, and preps and the "in betweens" who really don't care. But even though there aren't that many groups there are A LOT of coflicts between us.

For example, when everyone found out I was a goth some preppies wanted to fight me that used to be my friends. I'm the only goth in my school and it's not surprising considering it's unfortunately a Catholic school. The reason that I go there is because I live with my aunt and uncle.

People are getting used to the idea, but I'm still hated by many people but I learn to ignore it!!!!

I'm a Pagan
By M.

I'm a Pagan. I live in a small town in Wisconsin. Everyone in my high school knows I'm pagan. At least the people who know who I am do.

I've gotten a lot of guff for being the religion that I am. I've been called devil worshiper, blair witch, Mrs. Cleo, etc... I've had people walk around me singing hymns from the Bible just to make me angry.

I believe they make fun of me simply because they are afraid of what they believe i stand for. None of them actually took the time or effort to understand what my beliefs were. I can't even count the times I've told the same people that I can't worship the devil when I don't believe he exists.

I try to explain to them what I am, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. All I want is to go to school not having to wonder what new name they're going to come up with, or what new plan they have to try and humiliate me with.

I don't think asking for the ability to go to school without having to defend my religion to everyone I meet is too much to ask, do you? I just want to make some people aware that pagans aren't bad, sure we have some people calling themselves witches who give us a bad name, but if you talk to a pagan -- a true pagan -- you'll find out otherwise. As our creed states "an it harm none, do what thou will." Thank you for reading my story, I hope you come away with a different point of view.

Don't judge lunchmates by their appearance
Amber

Everyday is a new experience for me! I used to sit at the same old lunch table day after day, but now it's a whole new change! I sit with a girl I met in named Kiritie, who now I am really close with. It's a Goth table with lots of unique people — very friendly — and I feel happy to sit and make new friends. I always look forward to sitting there. They make me feel at home! It's not all what you look like on the outside, it's what you have on the inside that counts. So don't just judge people and not consider sitting with them just because of the way they look and dress.

More details here at website which organises it.

Punk children's book

Rocker's a hit with real punks

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture CriticTuesday, November 13, 2007
The scene at Bookshop West Portal in San Francisco looks like your typical punk rock concert. The musicians carry their own instruments and socialize with their fans before the performance. Members of the audience dance with no inhibition. And even though a couple of people may be spitting up in the back of the room, everyone still leaves having had a good time.

This is the latest side project for Bouncing Souls lead singer Greg Attonito, a veteran punk rocker who teamed up with his songwriter wife, Shanti Wintergate, to write a children's book. The tattoos worn by their target audience may be temporary, but the music is very real for the pair, who have been traveling to book stores and elementary schools across the country - playing original children's songs and reading from "I Went for a Walk," which Wintergate wrote and Attonito illustrated while touring with his band.

The songs are kid friendly but parent accessible, and the artwork in the book has an edgy, almost dreamlike quality that wouldn't look out of place on the front of a punk rock album. Wintergate and Attonito said they had the offspring of punk fans in mind when they wrote the book and the songs.

"It's not just a parent telling their kid, 'Here's something that I'm stoked about,' " Attonito says. "I think of this as a bridge between what the punk rock fan likes and what their kid is stoked about."..

Attack story – a complaint - Whitby Today

Attack story – a complaint - Whitby Today:

"From: Leona Cowap, Falcon Terrace, Whitby

I am writing to complain about the story “Thugs tore of my ears”, which was on the front page of Friday 2 November’s paper. I was extremely disappointed to read that they were not actually his real ears. I find the headline very misleading as I thought there had been a really quite serious attack. I agree it wasn’t very nice of the ‘attackers’ to push him about and swear at him but I wonder if I am the only person in Whitby who found “They ripped the bald cap and false ears, tore them to pieces and stamped on them” actually quite hilarious. Also, I know if Stuart had been unfortunate enough to have his real ears ripped off in the centre of Leeds on a Saturday evening it probably wouldn’t have even made it into the paper, let alone front page. 08 November 2007 "

See original story here:
Goth's ears ripped off by thugs - Have YOUR say on...

Sophie's funeral footage and photos

Sophie's Funeral

Sophie's boyfriend Rob Maltby

Final tribute to murdered Goth

Manchester Evening News
12/11/2007

HUNDREDS of mourners gathered to pay their respects at the funeral of a 20-year-old woman who was kicked to death in a park. Sophie Lancaster, of Bacup, suffered severe head and facial injuries during the brutal assault in August.

Miss Lancaster and her boyfriend, Rob Maltby, 21, who survived the attack, had been targeted in the past for being dressed as Goths. Her family have since launched a campaign to highlight the hostility which Goths face.













The Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere (Sophie) memorial fund aims to raise money to teach young people about alternative cultures and to respect everyone.

Their campaign, run via the myspace website, has attracted wide support from the online Goth community and many are expected to travel from around Britain to the service...

FOND FAREWELL FOR MURDERED WOMAN Express, UK November 13th

The humanist funeral held in Whitworth this morning, celebrated the life of the young woman who was brutally kicked to death as she walked through a park with her boyfriend.

Miss Lancaster, who was from Bacup in Lancashire, slipped into a coma and died in hospital 13 days after suffering fatal injuries to her head and face.

Her partner, 21-year-old Rob Maltby, also fell into a coma but survived the horrific attack. He suffered bleeding on the brain and is still recovering from his injuries.

Her white coffin was covered in messages from friends. One read: “I would love to hug you right now – see you in my thoughts and dreams.”... read more


Sophie's final goodbye
By Camilla Sutcliffe
Lancashire Evening Telegraph

MOURNERS wrote goodbye messages on the coffin of alleged murder victim Sophie Lancaster as condolences from around the world were shown on a projector screen.

Hundreds of people from across the country gathered at The Riverside Centre, Whitworth, for the humanist funeral ceremony, which celebrated diversity and difference.

Sophie, 20, died in August after she and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were involved in an incident in Stubbylee Park, Bacup. Police said the Bacup couple were attacked because of the way they looked.
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Portraits of former Haslingden High School pupil painted by Robert, 21, who survived the attack, decorated the funeral hall.

After the ceremony guests were invited to write messages to Sophie in black marker pen on her white coffin as music by the Beatles, Jeff Buckley and Marilyn Manson was played.

Poems by Christina Rossetti, Brian Patten and one written for Sophie by Robert, were read out during the ceremony.

Mourners then walked in procession led by a lone piper, to Whitworth Cemetary where poetry by Keats and Shelley was read before the burial.

At the service, officiator Sue Davies said that Sophie's "painful, cruel and tragic" death had shocked everyone, but that she would not want to be defined by the way she died. She said the funeral was very personal but,most importantly, welcoming, safe and inclusive for everyone.

She said: "Sophie Lancaster was an original - a remarkable and true individual. An exciting, fierce woman of high intelligence and understanding.

"Sophie's death is a profound tragedy of humanity. It is the tragedy of dehumanisation. It is the tragedy which unfortunately, despite all efforts, recurs again and again and is still with us today.

"With actions which are so atrocious, so incomprehensible that we are left struggling to make sense of the insensible. But we must never allow violence to be the final word."

She added that Sophie's three-year relationship with Robert was one which enriched them both.

After the ceremony friends said that it had done justice to Sophie's life. Close friend Joe Greenwood, 18, of Haslingden, said: "It was a beautiful service and it was wonderful to see so many people here to celebrate her life."

Paul Mannion, 23, of Hall Carr, Rawtenstall, added: "She was always happy, always laughing and always making other people laugh and see what life is really like. There are no ways to say what a shame it is to lose such a person."

Flowers were laid on her coffin by all mourners and donations have been made to the family's charity campaign SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere). Further donations can be made through the campaign website at www.myspace.com/inmemoryofsophie Five youths will appear in Preston Crown Court on March 10 charged with Sophie's murder.

[Another article no new details but appears in a popular and widely distributed free paper Metro.]
Tributes to goth who was brutally killed
Metro, UK -

Not Like Everyone Else - TV movie

This interesting sounding film highlights some of the problems faced by high school people bullying others,

Not Like Everyone Else
Randee Dawn

June 30, 2006

9 p.m. Monday, July 10 Lifetime There's a lot going on in Lifetime's new original movie, "Not Like Everyone Else," about the real-life struggle of Brandi Blackbear (Alia Shawkat), an Oklahoma teen expelled from school in 1999 for practicing witchcraft, who enlisted the ACLU to bring suit. In part it is a nightmare about teachers policing students; in part it is about civil rights; in part it is about "Mean Girls"/"Heathers" bullying outsiders/freethinkers; and in part it is a father-daughter reconciliation. But since it's a Lifetime movie, it really has to be about a woman standing up for her rights -- possibly the least relevant angle of this busy yet inert film. Executive produced by Lifetime regulars Michael Jaffe and Howard Braunstein, "Everyone Else" has moments. Brandi's mom (the delightful, earthy Illeana Douglas) accepts her Gothic, budding horror-writer daughter, and judicious use of handheld cameras lend scenes a documentary freshness. But "Everyone Else" fails to find its focus, and flat acting and tin-eared dialogue turn those scenes into an extended "Unsolved Mysteries" re-enactment. Blackbear's story -- which exposed the draconian measures visited on teens post-Columbine -- has a larger message to impart about jumping to conclusions in the skittish wake of tragedy. But next time, filmmakers should let Brandi write this particular horror story herself.

BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Park attack victim's funeral due

Includes video footage

"The funeral of a 20-year-old woman who died following an attack in a Lancashire park is to take place later. Sophie Lancaster was walking with her boyfriend in Stubby Lee Park in Bacup when they were attacked on 11 August. Her family have said they want as many people as possible to attend as part of their campaign to stamp out prejudice. Miss Lancaster and her boyfriend had earlier been targeted for dressing as Goths. The service is at the Riverside Centre in Whitworth at 1100 GMT. Mourners will be asked to write farewell messages on her white casket while her favourite music is played."
read more
BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Park attack victim's funeral due



Sophie's funeral to take place today
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 48 minutes ago
Police believe she and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, who survived the attack, were targeed because of their "goth" style of dress. ...

Petition Against Violence Gains 1 500 Signatures (from LancashireTelegraph)

"AN online petition - launched in memory of tragic Bacup girl Sophie Lancaster - calling for violence against goths and emos to be made 'a hate crime' has attracted more than 1,500 names. The petition comes as Sophie's family and friends today (MON) prepare to celebrate the former Haslingden High School pupil's life in a humanist service at the Riverside Centre in Whitworth. It has been lodged on the Prime Minister's website and urges Gordon Brown to consider extending the definition of hate crimes to include violence against goths and emos. advertisement The petition reads: 'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to widen the definition of hate Crime', to include crimes committed against a person or persons, on the basis of their appearance or subcultural interests...read more"

Petition Against Violence Gains 1 500 Signatures (from This Is Lancashire)

The article is mistaken in saying it is just about goths and emos but I suppose it is an easy mistake to make. The petition is now at over 1600 signatures and is around number 143 out of more than 8000 petitions on the site. This may be the first time the petition has been mentioned in the media. I think there will be a lot more media coverage round the trial in March of the accused in the Sophie Lancaster case when the petition will be almost finished which should be interesting. One wonders what difference such legislation would have made in the case of the killing of Dele Little for instance.

See earlier posts on hate crime for more background on the petition.