Many queer people in Linz are discriminated against in everyday life

In order to get a realistic picture of the living situation of the LGBTIQ* community in Linz, the responsible speaker, Vice Mayor Tina Blöchl (SP), commissioned the city research department to carry out a survey. The results show that equality and acceptance have not yet been achieved in many cases. 78 percent of those surveyed stated that they had had discriminatory experiences one or more times. The experiences range from ridicule (54.7%) to psychological pressure (33.6%) to sexual assault (25.1%) and physical attacks (15.9%). Most incidents took place on the street (38.2%) or in public transport (26%), followed by the Internet (22.9%), Linz’s night-time restaurants (20.5%) and the workplace (19.3%) %).

A third were outed involuntarily

More than half of those surveyed who are employed or in training have experienced inappropriate or obscene jokes at work or training. A good third have already been involuntarily outed by someone at work, school or university.

More on this: LGBTIQ+ Competence Center is scheduled to open in the third quarter

The more serious the offense, the more respondents defended themselves or sought help. However, only a little more than a quarter of those affected by physical violence have reported it to the police; in the case of sexual assaults, the figure is only around twelve percent. Almost half of those affected generally avoid some areas or locations in Linz in order not to be harassed, threatened or attacked. The city center, the main square and the train station were generally mentioned here. “For many queer people, social exclusion, prejudice and discrimination are reality,” says Patricia Kurz-Khattab, LGBTIQ* coordinator for the city of Linz.

Measures in public spaces

As a city, you can raise awareness and make political statements, says Blöchl, pointing to measures such as flagging the town halls and making it more visible in public spaces – for example using rainbow benches, zebra crossings or pairs of traffic lights. The community sees this 90 percent positively. In general, 88 percent of those surveyed feel comfortable in Linz and 65 percent rate the city as somewhat or very LGBTIQ*-friendly.

The survey was carried out anonymously in collaboration with ten local interest groups and associations. A total of 327 completed questionnaires were evaluated.

FPÖ wants focus on integration

FPÖ local councilor Patricia Haginger reacted to the results today. The survey “may well be justified,” but its content completely ignores the majority of Linz’s population. Haginger appeals to Blöchl, who is also responsible for integration, not to avoid the challenges of integration.

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