In case you don't know, Sophie Lancaster was murdered on August 21st last year, because she was a goth. Her killers have just been convicted, but not yet sentenced. Currently it is in all the papers and on all the news sites, so chances are you've heard something. I'm quite involved in the S.O.P.H.I.E campaign, set up by her parents to try to stop these kinds of things from happening in the future, and to raise awareness of the problem. With that in mind, I'd like to share the following article I found on the BBC website today:

The darker side of life as a Goth
By Clare Purdy
BBC News, Manchester

To be consistently verbally abused about the way you choose to dress seems inconceivable to most people.
Blending in and staying anonymous in an age where gang mentality is increasingly commonplace seems the safer option.
Ade Varney, a Goth since the age of 17, says that the reality is that the abuse aimed at Goths is alarmingly regular.
Following Sophie Lancaster's killing in a Lancashire park, he is campaigning to have the definition of hate crime to include offences against people based on their appearance or subcultural interests.

A regular at the Whitby Goth weekend, which Miss Lancaster and her boyfriend Rob Maltby also attended, Mr Varney has also been among those who have helped put a memorial bench in place for Miss Lancaster.
He said: "We decided it only fitting that she had a memorial not only in the place where she and Rob had once enjoyed but also a place where Goths frequent, so they can pay their respects when there."

Miss Lancaster, 20, suffered fatal injuries when she and Mr Maltby were attacked in Stubbylee Park in Bacup in August last year.
Preston Crown Court heard they were attacked by teenagers purely because they were dressed as Goths.
Mr Varney said: "Among a bunch of young kids, who shouldn't even have been out at night, were some teenagers, who operated with an 'us and them' gang mentality.

"You have to search hard to find a Goth who is violent in nature and even harder still to find one who has not been targeted in some way," said Ade Varney.
"We get verbal assaults every day, and not just from young people. But now younger teenagers have the mentality of hardened criminals and I definitely sense this violent aspect getting worse.
"It's often exacerbated by misconceptions about what Goths are.
"Goth teenagers can tend to be bookish, quiet and thoughtful. As a result they can sometimes become distanced from the majority and become targeted.

"In my experience of over 20 years, as a general rule, you have to search hard to find a Goth who is violent in nature and even harder still to find one who has not been targeted in some way.
"These packs so often see a slightly built guy on his own, wearing make-up and to them, he is fair game, an easy target to bully. It is happening to girls now, more than ever.

"Sophie and Rob were young and happy together and at that age, you sometimes think nothing bad can ever happen to you. I've been there myself.
They may not have been able to conceive that anyone could be so cruel. I'm sure they had no idea what hit them at first. It appears they had virtually no chance to react or defend themselves."

The attack happened only moments after the pair had a "good-natured" conversation with other youngsters in the park.

Mr Varney started a petition to expand the definition of hate crime and has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

"I would say I get some sort of abuse most days, whether alone or with friends. Some might be light-hearted, but it's never fully good-natured.
"People think that we dress like this just to stand out. We might stand out, but it's not to shock. It's a choice and we like it - it's more about what we want to be for ourselves, than anything else.
"Sophie's death has made people think and I have heard of teenagers, especially girls, modifying the way they dress when they walk though certain areas."

Martin 'Oldgoth' Coles, a prominent music DJ on the Whitby Gothic scene instigated the memorial project and organised the fund-raising for Sophie's bench, which is marked with the words: "An angel too soon."

Mr Varney will speak at its official unveiling in Whitby on 26 April.
"Sophie's body is not there, but we like to think her spirit is," he said.
"Whatever you believe in, her memory will always last in this place.

***

I imagine a lot of you have experienced something like this. I know I have. My main reason for posting this is to make people think about the risks that are - sadly - involved in just looking different, and to TAKE CARE of each other, and ourselves. By no means am I suggesting you try to conform, or dress any other way than that which makes you happy. Just be careful. Because on our side of this debate, that's really all we can do to try and stop these terrible attacks - and there have been many, many more - from happening in the future.

If you want to show your support, I'm selling wristbands, just pm me for more details or if you have any questions at all.

Be safe.
Smiley xx

Skitsy, if I were you I'd try to light him on fire as he walked out of the store.

I dont go too crazy most the time, but I remember I wore my ripped stockings into school once, and all throughout Geometery[which is infested by the mutant ghetto kids] this one kid was like 'YO STOCKINS LOOK LIKE SWISS CHEESE'
Well no shit, Sherlock. Would you like a cookie?
Even my one teacher said something. But I've never gotten physically assaulted.

Words dont bother me, I've been called every name in the book and then some. But if it ever gets physical I will fight back.

Sophie Lancaster is also the reason for the Gothic Liberation Front (GLF) being founded through myspace. I run the Houston, Texas, USA branch.

The S.O.P.H.I.E. organization doesnt really affiliate much with GLF, but we arent against each other.

Please add the S.O.P.H.I.E. organization on myspace as well as the Primary GLF page and whichever branch is closest to you.

Not too long ago my friend was wearing a beautiful gothic dress on the way home from town. It was afternoon and broad daylight but as she was walking home a group of guys started yelling at her. Not long after, they followed her and pushed her and tried to trip her over. She managed to run off but she still got spat at.
The saddest thing was how she treated it without a care, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She just shrugged the whole thing off because she was just to people treating her like that because of her style and what she wears.

When attacks are seen as racist or religiously related a huge scene is made out of it. But sadly, it seems attacks based on subculture get swept under the rug.

Its awful what happened to sophie
becuase of this, my mum has requested that i stop wearing black, and hanging around with my 'goth' friends
its now getting to the stage where people cant express themselves anymore without the fear of being targeted
oh how i hate today's society.
x

Oh no, that's awful! That's not the way this sort of thing should be handled at all!!!!!

You and your friends just take care of each other, and assure your mum that that is exactly what you are all doing. And of course take the reasonable precautions like not wandering in dodgy areas alone or at all if possible, not starting arguments with chav types, etc. I hope you get to keep being yourself! Nobody should be forced to conform out of fear ...

(Tbh my mum asked me to do exactly the same after she found out about it - but I'm 27 and live in my own flat, so she can't TELL me to. She just tends to call me up after she knows I've been out to make sure I got home safely now. Awwh ...)

Smiley xx

:O Rather late response, by me!
but yes, we look out for each other all the time
and i agree, it's not the way to solve things
and im really not the argumentative type, et c.
but it's awful what the world is comming to
and that's quite cute, about your mum
xx

I know this is an older topic, but I wanted to add my thoughts, if no one minds.

I am also a goth, and have been for around a decade now. I guess I got into it around my early teens, and just grown into it...I believe goth is something you grown into, rather than out of.

But anyway, I think I'm quite lucky in the sense that I've never been physically targeted because of the way I dress- I have been beaten up or in fights since the time I started dressing in a different manner, but it was by people who had a vendetta against me since I was around age 11 (in my bubblegum-pop stage; I spent about 2 or 3 years desperately trying to fit in and it didn't work, so I started doing my own thing; the reactions didn't change, but at least I was being my own person) so I wouldn't say I've actually been targeted during that time for being a goth.

But the verbal abuse has been astounding at times. Even adults have sworn at me in shops.

However, in the years since Sophie's death, I did find there was a general improvement. I don't get any hassle in the area where I work (known infamously as a deprived, chavvy area), and I blend in with the scenery even on Halloween (Halloween is a free-for-all when it comes to goth clothes, for me :3). Some of my goth friends have noted a slight improvement, partly from locals getting to know them, although sometimes outside of our immediate local area, we get more hassle- verbal mainly (I tend to shrug off the name-calling, its silly). I did feel for some time that it was probably the effect of Sophie's death being talked about a lot in the media- I reckoned that people were finally realising that goths aren't anything to be scared of, and that sympathies were increasing for us. I had also noticed that this seemed to happen exclusively in the UK, rather than in the US where most non-goths would never have heard about the tragedy, and I still got treated poorly there.

I have recently, however, began to see more hassle. Like, in the last few months. More snide remarks, unpleasant looks when I'm in public. Several people gave me nasty looks, stares and even nasty comments on my birthday on Saturday when I went out dressed in Victorian-Lolita style (you'd think they'd have noticed the birthday balloon and either decided to leave it or just assume I was in costume, but no -_- ). I've noticed more problems recently, and I don't know if its because the general public has simply FORGOTTEN about Sophie, or what? All I know is, for the first time in a couple of years, I'm beginning to feel un-confident again.

(Interesting to note, that the Victorian look tends to go down a sight better in the US, where I've recieved many compliments, then in the UK, where even little old ladies glare evilly at me. Any thoughts on that? I'm trying to figure out why that's so, its weird, and almost funny lol).