HOMOPHOBIA is endemic in Liverpool according to one of the city’s most prominent gay leaders and not enough is being done to turn the tide, he claims.

“How many more gay youngsters will commit suicide, how many will have to be attacked or killed before this city takes this problem seriously?” said Cllr Steve Radford last night.

“There is an appalling level of endemic homophobia in Liverpool.

“The Stormbreaker research shows it is worse than in the worst parts of East London. Around 14% of gay households in the city, that’s about one in eight, have been attacked in the last couple of years by people they know, or perceive, as friends or neighbours.”

Work Cllr Radford, the Liberal Party member for Tuebrook, has undertaken – along with Liverpool East Youth Panel and Tuebrook Hope Centre – to educate young people on the dangers homophobia has brought about.

He said: “These people need to be challenged in an open way,” he argued.

“I’ve urged the chief executive to take up the programmes we’ve been running across the city, but so far they’ve been limited to the work we’ve done.”

More action is needed, he stressed, to combat negative attitudes that breed the sort of violence that led to the death of Michael Causer.