Oi you two! holding hands, please leave! – new resource to combat discrimination from Equality Commission

“Oi you two! Yes you two holding hands… you’re offending me and my customers. We don’t want your sort here. Please leave.”

Perhaps you or someone you know has had this said to you in a bar, or a shop, or even at home. If you have, the Equality Commission’s brand new website http://www.SoMe-NI.co.uk is there to help you. With interactive features and lots of information there, SoMe is a great resource for all who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual to get information about how to challenge discrimination when it happens.

Roisin Lavery of the Equality Commission has been working with the local community here in Belfast for a number of months to provide information in an exciting and proactive way. It is not a website full of legalese and demands for your name and contact details to take a case against someone. SoMe is much more useful than that.

As the Michael Wardlow, Chief Commissioner at the Equality Commission says, the new resource is

“for LGB people in Northern Ireland – ´So Me´ (www.some-ni.co.uk). It’s a hub for information and contacts, but also a new way for people to report anonymously, to share their experiences without having to give their names, and to access information, advice and support in a personalized, safe environment. So Me is linked to social media that are easily accessible to anyone.”

So, if you have been targeted by someone because of your sexual orientation, you have rights, and you can do something about it. Get online and start making it stop.