Authorities in the liberal capital of Germany are reporting a sharp spike in anti-LGBT attacks, according to a report.
DW reported that there were 261 incidents of anti-LGBT violence in Berlin over the first nine months of this year; By comparison, there were 184 anti-LGBT incidents in all of 2018.
Authorities told the news outlet the recorded incidents included physical attacks as well as insults and threats.
Most of the anti-LGBT incidents happened in Berlin districts where the LGBT community is highly visible — in the city centre as well as Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Schöneberg.
Barbara Slowik, Berlin’s police chief, warned of “increasing polarization of society” and an increase in hate crimes in Berlin, which is known as a global capital of LGBT culture, during a presentation at an event organized by the Berlin-based Alliance against Homophobia, the news outlet reported.
Last month, the city of Dresden in eastern Germany declared a “Nazi emergency” after allegedly experiencing a rise in anti-democratic and far-right extremist views and violence.