Remembering Sophie Lancaster.

Today would have been Sophie Lancaster’s 29th birthday. If you are not familiar with her story, she and her boyfriend were kicked and beaten to unconsciousness in a park in Bacup, England, by a group of youths in August 2007. Simply for being goths. Her boyfriend recovered. Sophie didn’t. Since Sophie’s death, her mother, Sylvia Lancaster, founded the Sophie Lancaster Foundation (S.O.P.H.I.E.), campaigning to make violent attacks against goths and other subcultures a hate-crime. Her tireless work has borne fruit and today, several police forces in the UK now class attacks against subcultures as hate-crime. Sylvia regularly visits schools, colleges and prisons, telling Sophie’s story and teaching acceptance of people who are members of subcultures. (What does subculture mean?)

Here is a link to an article by Ilamasqua, the cosmetic company that champions the cause of the S.O.P.H.I.E. foundation.

(Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere)

You can find out more about the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and its work here.