So today is the day that GARAS says goodbye to the Hate Crime Co-ordinator who we have hosted for the past 2 years. Two years where she has worked in Gloucester and Gloucestershire to encourage a climate of trust in authority to report hate crime and incidents, to increase reporting and to work with communities.
And today’s the day we woke up to find that the President Elect of the USA has been openly misogynistic, racist and Islamaphobic throughout his campaign, a scary day indeed.
Last week I stood in a small town in Bosnia Herzegovina and saw something of what happens when hatred has the upper hand, when the “other” is singled out and isolated, when history cannot be forgotten and ridiculous fears are played on so that politicians can get their own way.
So thank you Sado, and Mina (who worked alongside Sado for a few months) for doing your part in this county. Let’s continue to work to defend our fundamental ideals & beliefs that no one should be discriminated on the basis of their race, gender, faith or sexual orientation or any other way that identifies their “difference”.
GARAS 