CCTV images have been released of five men believed to have been involved in launching a tirade of homophobic slurs at a member of the public in Birmingham.

The verbal assault occurred outside Café Soya in The Arcadian, a shopping centre in the city’s Chinese Quarter close to the gay village. 

The police have appealed for witnesses and shared CCTV shots on X/Twitter of five men they want to speak to. The images show a group who appear to be in their teens or early twenties, wearing a mix of hoodies and polo shirts.

“We want to speak to them following a disorder outside Café Soya in the Arcadian, #Birmingham on Saturday 30 March, the post reads. “A member of the public who tried to intervene was also assaulted and was subjected to homophobic comments.” 

Anyone with information is urged to contact the police, quoting crime reference number 20/331067/24. Information can also be passed to @crimestoppersuk anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Rising homophobic and transphobic rhetoric

Data released last year showed that almost three-quarters of trans people in the UK had faced verbal abuse in the year to May 2023.

At the start of this year, the Metropolitan Police released photos of a man they wished to speak to in connection with a suspected hate crime that occurred at London’s busy Bank Tube station.

The attack followed a spate of hate crimes in the capital, including the stabbing of a couple outside The Two Brewers bar in Clapham – a popular LGBTQ+ venue – in August, an assault on a couple in Brixton just a week later, and an attack on a man and his partner in Chadwell Heath in October.