CUMBRIA has double the proportion of reported LGBT hate crime than the national average and the highest in England and Wales, official figures show.
Hate crime based on sexual orientation and transgender people accounts for just under a quarter (24.8 per cent) of all recorded hate crime in the county.
READ MORE: Rise in Cumbria disability hate crimes
Statistics released by the Home Office show there were 72 instances of hate crime against gay, lesbian and bisexual people and a further 24 against transgender people in 2015/16.
Proportionally this means Cumbria has double the LGBT hate crime rate than the English and Welsh average, which across both countries comes to 12.3 per cent and a total of 8,052 cases.
Lee Wicks, chairperson of the Friends & Supporters of the Furness LGBT Community, said the figures were high and showed the county had a long way to go in accepting gay people.
He said: "It's unacceptable. We have a high rate of suicide amongst LGBT youth and this can be the result of hate crime. It's tragic, it's heartbreaking.
"People shout names and I think the worst case I've come across was a few years back when a young transgender person was seeking help because her mother was saying things like she wished she had had an abortion, 'you're not a girl, you were born a boy' and 'you are a freak'.
"We need to end the bigotry.
"Cumbria is quite a rural area - it's not the gay capital of the universe.
"That's why we need more safe places for LGBT people to meet all around Cumbria."
Proportionally, metropolitan areas like Greater Manchester and London have lower levels of sexual orientation and transgender hate crime, with both policing authorities below the national average.
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Peter McCall, police and crime commissioner for Cumbria, said: "There is no place in Cumbria for hate crime.
"I hear from victims the long-lasting effect hate crime has on their lives. They often suffer in silence for too long and there is simply no excuse for someone to be subjected to such abuse and crimes."
During the last financial year, there were 797 instances of hate crime and a total of 784 offences in Cumbria.
There were 216 instances of racial hate crime, 19 based on religion and 56 based on disability.
Hate crime is a crime motivated by prejudice and covers all types of discrimination and violence.
How other policing authorities in England compare
Authority - No. of sexual orientation and transgender hate crime instances - % of all hate crime
North East
Cleveland - 54 - 9.3%
Durham - 118 - 24.4%
Northumbria - 148 - 11%
North West
Cheshire - 129 - 16.1%
Cumbria - 96 - 24.8%
Greater Manchester - 532 - 10.7%
Lancashire - 139 - 15.7%
Merseyside - 353 - 15.2%
Yorkshire and the Humber
Humberside - 52 - 9.8%
North Yorkshire - 31 - 12.4%
South Yorkshire - 127 - 12.7%
West Yorkshire - 353 - 9.4%
East Midlands
Derbyshire - 52 - 9.5%
Leicestershire - 96 - 11.7%
Lincolnshire - 56 - 17.1%
Northamptonshire - 66 - 12%
Nottinghamshire - 84 - 9%
West Midlands
Staffordshire - 112 - 10%
Warwickshire - 47 - 13.6%
West Mercia - 119 - 14.5%
West Midlands - 406 - 10.4%
East England
Bedfordshire - 45 - 7.4%
Cambridgeshire - 51 - 9%
Essex - 134 - 11.5%
Hertfordshire - 64 - 6.5%
Norfolk - 115 - 17.9%
Suffolk - 68 - 14%
London
London, City of - 22 - 17.3%
Metropolitan Police - 1,996 - 11.4%
South East
Hampshire - 332 - 17.7%
Kent - 136 - 11.2%
Surrey - 156 - 15%
Sussex - 345 - 18.8%
Thames Valley - 169 - 10.1%
South West
Avon and Somerset - 317 - 15.2%
Devon and Cornwall - 153 - 18.6%
Dorset - 63 - 14.1%
Gloucestershire - 39 - 13.3%
Wiltshire - 57 - 11.8%
Wales
Dyfed-Powys - 16 - 13.2%
Gwent - 55 - 24.6%
North Wales - 71 - 17.6%
South Wales - 265 - 15%
British Transport Police
British Transport Police - 213 - 9.1%
England and Wales
England and Wales - 8,052 - 12.3%
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