I’m a gay Irish traveller – I tried to educate people but the horrific abuse I received forced me out of my job
A PUB barman says he’s been hounded out of his job and threatened with acid because he’s a gay Irish traveller. James Lawrence was targeted by sick bullies who found out where he worked after he posted about his experiences on TikTok. The thugs began sending takeaways to the bar – before their trolling turned […]
A PUB barman says he’s been hounded out of his job and threatened with acid because he’s a gay Irish traveller.
James Lawrence was targeted by sick bullies who found out where he worked after he posted about his experiences on TikTok.
The thugs began sending takeaways to the bar – before their trolling turned violent.
Over the course of three weeks, James, 24, was messaged by abusers who ordered him to kill himself and said they’d throw acid in his face.
He was finally forced to hand in his notice after becoming fearful that his tormenters would visit him at work.
James, who lives in Bristol, has now called for TikTok to verify every user in a bid to stamp out online abusers.
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“I was working in a pub for two months. Trolls on TikTok found out where it was, they’re honestly like investigators,” he said.
“My partner was live on TikTok three weeks ago, and a customer said the place’s name in the background. Troll accounts picked up on it from that.”
Pizzas then began arriving with his name on.
James initially believed the deliveries were a simple mistake, but said he “almost had a head attack” when he realised it was another way to bully him.
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“I just thought ‘oh my god, this is getting so close to home now’,” he said.
“I was s***ting myself. I was just thinking, ‘What if somebody turns up to where I work and does something?”
James initially set up his TikTok to help educate people about his life.
But he said the “disgusting” abuse has stopped him from posting online.
“I just don’t understand why people would go to such lengths,” he said.
ACID THREAT
“I didn’t get sacked from work.
“My management was absolutely lovely, but I just thought it was best for me to step away from it because of the trolling.
“Ever since I started on TikTok I’ve had a lot of horrible trolls.
“Since I’m a gay Irish traveller, I’ve had lots of comments saying I should kill myself and that people were going to throw acid into my face.
“There was a point where I was getting targeted daily.”
I was s***ting myself. I was just thinking, ‘What if somebody turns up to where I work?’
Despite racking up almost 90,000 followers on the platform, James says he feels like he “can’t win”.
“They’d say loads of stuff about me not having a job, then they’d go to these extremes to push me out of my job,” he said.
“I started my TikTok to educate people about travellers and raise awareness about the discrimination and racism that travellers face.
“Through being a gay traveller, I got asked a lot of questions about that.
“My TikTok grew from there and I got a following, but I also gained trolls too.”
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A TikTok spokesman said: “TikTok is a diverse and inclusive community where there’s no place for hate or discrimination.
“Our community guidelines make it clear we do not permit content that contains hate speech.”
