2006 and 2019. The exhibition, in conjunction with Homotopia and National Museums Liverpool, looked at the experience of gay seafarers on passenger and merchant Ships from the 1950s – 1980s. Through video, photos and personal stories, visitors were able to gain an insight into the hidden history of gay life at sea. The exhibition was one of the few examples where this history had ever been celebrated in a major British museum. The first ever award ceremony to celebrate the achievements of Liverpool's LGBT community took place on 13 October 2011, organised by Seen Magazine - the city's home grown lesbian and gay publication. Amongst the winners was the Michael Causer Foundation, voted as Best LGBT Charity of the Year. In the early part of the decade, Liverpool also competed regularly against other UK cities in the annual Mr Gay UK beauty competition, with the representative from the city participating in the national final. The winner of Mr Gay Europe 2007, Jackson Netto, was a student at Liverpool University, however, he represented Germany and not the UK. 2017–2018 hate crimes In 2018, homophobic and transphobic hate crime was at record levels in Merseyside, dramatically increasing since Michael Causer's death in 2008. Of the figures retrieved by the BBC, more than half of the 442 reported victims in 2017 were under-35, and more than 50 were under 18. There were a number of theories and factors suggested as contributing to this rise, one of which was improvements in reporting. It was suggested that LGBTQ+ people generally felt more comfortable reporting hate crimes and that police were taking them more seriously. However, the number of offenders being brought to justice had not been found to have increased in line with the number of hate crimes recorded. It was reported that only one in five homophobic hate crimes were solved. "Merseyside Police told BBC Three there has been a 38% rise in trans hate crime since [2017], with most victims aged between 26–35". In December 2018, according to Freedom of Information responses received from 38 police forces across England, Scotland and Wales, Merseyside had the highest rate of recorded homophobic hate crimes. 2020s On 22 June 2021, hundreds of people demonstrated in Liverpool City Centre after reports of at least four people being attacked in suspected homophobic hate crimes in the city within the space of a single month. A young woman, her