The Daily Swarm

Missed this story when it first broke earlier this month, but worth reexamining in light of the ongoing events in Mexico.

BBC: Goth clothes ‘prompted killing’:

A 15-year-old boy kicked and stamped to death a woman because she was dressed as a Goth, a court heard.

The drunk teenager was among a gang of five who “savagely and mercilessly” attacked Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend, Preston Crown Court heard.

Miss Lancaster was begging the gang to stop beating Robert Maltby, 21, when they turned on her in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, the jury was told.

[...]

Mr Shorrock said the gang had turned on the young couple simply because they were Goths or “moshers” and dressed differently to them.

Mr Maltby survived the attack in August last year but has not made a full recovery. He has no memory of the incident.

Mr Shorrock said the five, none of whom can be named, were “acting like a pack of wild animals”.

“The attack was totally unprovoked.

“It would appear that Mr Maltby and Miss Lancaster were singled out, not for anything they had said or done, but because they dressed differently to the defendant and his friend,” he said.

BBC: Anger of park attack survivor:

“We didn’t judge anyone on face value, we didn’t think ill of anyone unless they gave us reason to – that is why we were there that night.

“We thought everyone there would be like that, but unfortunately, they weren’t.”

Mr Maltby was kicked and beaten and was lying bleeding when the attackers turned on Miss Lancaster.

“In my mind I really wished she legged it and got out of there, I wish she’d left me to die,” he said.

“She could not accept anything bad happening to anyone she cared about.

“My personal feeling was what they were trying to do was humiliate us.”

Drowned in Sound:

This attack is a very extreme example of discrimination towards individuals because of their dress sense, one directly influenced by a culture surrounding a particular style of modern music. But cases of kids being intimidated or attacked because of their decision to wear clothes outwardly portraying their tastes in music and culture are common; everyone reading this site, more than likely, has experienced this either personally or through friends and colleagues. I know I have: I’ve seen a kid a few years down from me at university get punched out in Liverpool, and younger siblings of school friends bullied because they’d rather sport a band hoodie than some Nike tracksuit. You can take the nu-ravers out of Hoxton, sure, but you can’t promise their safe return.

This isn’t just a domestic issue, either: stateside many parents use online forums to sympathise with fellow mothers and fathers, whose offspring have been targeted for their fashion sense; each time, music has been a root of the ‘offending’ look. Emo style, in particular, comes in for criticism from many unfamiliar with its contemporary uniform of skinny-leg jeans and long fringes (see this guide). We may laugh at teenagers constantly brushing their hair from their eyes in Burger Kings across the land, but there are examples of this reaction escalating. It’s one thing to be called a gay, or a homo, in the street because your trousers are a little tight (or verbally dressed down by loudmouths like Tom Meighan), quite another to be chased, or beaten.

ALSO: Flashback: U.K. Roots of the Emo War