Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who was "headbutted" by a man wearing a "Vote Yes" badge last night, has said attacks on the LGBTI community were "long gone".

So are there less attacks on the LGBTI community than before?

What did Tony Abbott say?

This week, Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio that things had improved for the LGBTI community.

"So you want to understand the position others might have been in, but the days when we were cruel to people on the basis of their sexuality, I think have long gone," he said.

"And that's why I think the nastiness in this debate is so unfortunate.

"Thirty or 40 years ago, the most unspeakable things happened — there was homophobia, but I think the world has changed dramatically and that's why it's so distressing, to see the boot on the other foot."

So, is he right?

Brisbane LGBTIQ Action Group convenor Phil Browne said he first wanted to condemn the attack on the former prime minister.

"The first thing that I want to say is that the is absolutely no place for violence, from either side," Mr Browne said.

"(LGBTIQ people) have had a lot of verbal abuse and on occasion physical violence, not only over the marriage equality debate but just over their very existence.

"Unfortunately there is still a lot of prejudice and discrimination directed toward LGBTIQ people.

"And sadly this is reflected in a suicide rate, that according to a previous Australian Human Rights report, was 3.5 to 14 times higher than the general population…"

He said the community was still on the receiving end of discrimination, which sometimes culminated in violence.

"Certainly verbal attacks are (common)," he said.

"For example people calling out f****t in the street, that certainly does still occur and on occasion that does extend to physical violence sadly."

Mr Brown said it was hard to tell statistically whether violence had decreased against the LGBTI community, with many attacks of violence and abuse not reported to police.

"I would say that the reasons behind that are very complex and have a lot to do with our past legal situation," he said.

"It was only until 1991 that in Queensland people did serve jail time for having sex with the person they loved in the privacy of their own home.

"But that lack of reporting of violence comes largely from a place of fear and fear of being given inferior treatment.

"And when you look at the history books and see the harsher repercussions that people had to live with, and you see the impact that's had on real people's lives, you can understand why there has been a reluctance to report violence."

'I was 19 and absolutely terrified'

Mich, 27, told the ABC an experience she had almost a decade ago still leaves her shaken.

"Homophobic violence is something I've experienced verbally since I was young — generally snide comments or constant 'please don't be gay at work' were just the reality of growing up queer in Brisbane," she said.

"I had the privilege to work for LGBTI organisation QAHC [The Queensland AIDS Council] years ago — a role I was super proud of that took me to wonderful locations to interview the fellow queer community.

"One night I was stationed at the opening night of a gay-friendly bar on the Gold Coast. I was so excited.

"However that excitement quickly turned to fear when I hopped out of my car and starting walking to the club.

"A car full of young men pulled up beside and starting screaming, 'you are such a fat, ugly dyke. Get the f**k out of our city, dyke. God, you're so f***ing fat and ugly'.

"I was 19 and absolutely terrified. It was a quiet street and badly lit. I quickened my pace and then I thought I heard a car door opening. I was frozen but my body was moving me to safety.

"I know anything I could have said in my defence would have escalated the situation.

"I've never returned to the Gold Coast at night again. I replay that night in my head over and over whenever I'm walking alone at night — 'just keep your head down and make yourself invisible'."

Brisbane man attacked for first time recently

Dan, 37, told the ABC he and a friend were eating food after a night out in Brisbane when they were attacked, which was the first time he'd ever experienced homophobic violence.

"Nothing physically [violent] until last month," he said.

"[I] had a group of guys that just started yelling at me and a girlfriend of mine, calling me a f****t.

"And my friend told them to stop and shut up and then they started hitting us."

He said ended up in hospital with a nose that wouldn't stop bleeding, but he didn't report the incident to police.

What does the research say?

A study from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in 2012 found 18 per cent of young LGBTI people had experienced physical homophobic abuse and 61 per cent had experienced verbal homophobic abuse.

Nine per cent had experienced other types of homophobia including cyberbullying, graffiti, social exclusion and humiliation.

The study also found almost half of all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people hide their sexual orientation or gender identity in public for fear of violence or discrimination.

How about overseas?

In the UK, attacks on LGBTI people have surged by almost 80 per cent, according a recent to data report released by charity Stonewall.

The report found four out of five who had experienced a hate crime in the past 12 months did not report it to police.

In the United States, a report title Hate Crimes and Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People from 2009 found in 2007 alone 1,265 LGB-biased crimes were reported to the FBI, which was a six per cent increase from the year before.

So, how can things get better?

Mr Browne said there was certainly more effort from the policing side of things to improve relationships between the community and police.

That included Queensland Police taking part in the Brisbane Pride festival this weekend.

"The police LGBTI liaison officers … must be highly praised for trying to build bridges and restore trust within the community," he said.