I Kissed a Boy star Dan Harry has revealed he was subjected to homophobic abuse by a group of men at King’s Cross station in London. He is now urging people to “offer some kindness”.
Harry, who earlier this year lent his voice to documentary HIV, PrEP & Me, to help end new cases of the virus by 2030, opened up to the BBC about a homophobic incident that left him feeling “really scared”.
The incident occurred after he had left a date. He recalled sensing three men behind him while he was on the escalator at the busy London Tube station.
The men followed him to the platform and began to whisper “horrible, homophobic slurs” in his ear.
‘Nobody helped or said anything to me’
“As the train was getting closer, I could feel them getting closer and closer to my back, and they were almost nudging me forward to the platform edge. I remember feeling really scared and I didn’t know what to do.
“Nobody helped or said anything to me, and that almost stayed with me more than the initial homophobia,” he said.
He felt so “overwhelmed” that he didn’t bring the incident to the attention of Underground staff or the police. “If I could go back, I absolutely would report it,” he added.
“Reporting helps with two things: it bring[s] justice and hopefully deter[s] people from committing hate crimes again, and it contributes to broader statistics that accurately illustrate the fundamental problem that needs to be addressed,” Harry exclusively told PinkNews.
“The hardest part about what I experienced was hearing my mum’s reaction to me telling her what happened.
“She always worries about these things happening to me because she knows LGBTQ+ people are targeted but I think most of my peers would agree that experiencing homophobia is something that’s unfortunately a part of our lives, and something we’ve become accustomed to and have our own coping mechanisms to handle.
‘Offer some kindness’
“The incident at King’s Cross was particularly hard because I felt I was in danger, literally on the edge of a train platform, and [people] were just standing by, watching it happen.
“I would urge anyone that if you happen to be sitting on a train platform, or a bus, or walking down the street, and you see someone experiencing homophobia, offer them some kindness and ask if they are OK.”
A homophobic abuse victim previously shared his feelings about using public transport in the capital. “One thing I have tried to remind myself after experiencing hate crime is that, overall, it’s not a frequent part of my day-to-day experience,” he said.
“Out of all the Tube and bus journeys I’ve taken in the [past] two years, I have encountered this behaviour twice. From 2021 to 2022, there were 1,899 reports of hate crime, with up to five million journeys a day, on public transport.
“But, of course, one hate crime is one too many. Everyone deserves to feel safe, especially when travelling around the world’s most incredible city.”
For more information visit TfL. You can report an incident at the time it happened by texting the British Transport Police on 61016 or on the Railway Guardian App (Tube and rail) or to the Metropolitan Police on met.police.uk or by calling 101 (buses).
You can also report a crime after the event, using the True Vision website.
If you’ve been affected by hate crime, organisations such as The Community Alliance to Combat Hate, can provide specialist advice, support and advocacy.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
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