The Straight Smith

The Minister of Incarceration and Deportation has congratulated the gay rights charity Stonewall for some "timely research" which showed that a fifth of gay and lesbian people have suffered homophobic abuse over the past three years. A sixth were physically assaulted, an eighth sexually groped, and nine-tenths verbally abused and harassed. Most of them did not complain to the police, because they did not expect the police to investigate the complaint. A third said they practised discretion, as recommended by Agent Smith, in order to avoid persecution. However, Agent Smith is "determined that lesbian and gay people should have the confidence to report crimes to the police knowing they will be taken seriously, the crime investigated and their privacy respected"; so presumably the recommendation was intended only for homosexuals who have committed the additional indiscretions of being brown and foreign.