The name of Damilola Taylor is well known in the UK since his death on 27th November 2000 in Peckham, south London; he bled to death after being wounded with a broken bottle in thigh, which severed the femoral artery; he was attacked by a local gang of boys. The BBC, Telegraph, Guardian and Independent newspapers reported at the time that during the weeks between arriving in the UK from Africa and the attack he had been subjected to bullying and beating, which included homophobic remarks, by a group of boys at his school, "The bullies told him that he was gay."[1] He "may not have understood why he was being bullied at school, or why some other children taunted him about being 'gay' - the word meant nothing to him."[2] He had to ask his mother what 'gay' meant, she said "Boys were swearing at him, saying lots of horrible words. They were calling him names."[2] His mother had spoken about this bullying, but the teachers failed to take it seriously "She said pupils had accused her son of being gay and had beaten him last Friday."[3] Six months after the murder, his father said, "I spoke to him and he was crying that he was being bullied and being called names. He was being called 'gay'."[4] In the New Statesman two years later, when there had still been been no convictions for the crime, Peter Tatchell, gay human rights campaigner, said, "In the days leading up to his murder in south London in November 2000, he was subjected to vicious homophobic abuse and assaults,"[5] and asked why the authorities had ignored this before and after his death.
