Tag Archives: homophobic bullying

Caron Lindsay

New report highlights need for action against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 11th November 2014 - 12:55 pm

If I saw a transgender person, I’d kill them.

That happened. A young transgender person heard that fall casually from the lips of a classmate one day in class. The classmate didn’t know they were talking about someone not three feet away from them, but that’s not the point.

Even though my young acquaintance knew that they weren’t in the wrong, it was still a huge dent to their confidence. A blatant attack on your right to exist is never going to be easy to deal with. All school pupils, staff and parents should know that homophobic, transphobic or biphobic abuse will never be tolerated. That threat of physical harm in that example of hate speech was particularly appalling but those phrases like “You’re so gay” are just the stop of a slippery slope and need to be challenged by education from the earliest age.

It’s been good to see the Government, in a move personally championed by Nick Clegg and Jo Swinson, ensure that £2 million has been allocated specifically to combat this abuse. Jo said:

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 40 Comments
Jo Swinson MP

Jo Swinson MP writes…I want to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools

By Jo Swinson MP | Thu 21st November 2013 - 12:01 pm

Regardless of sexuality, all pupils should feel safe and accepted at school, but for far too many young people, bullying is a sad reality of their daily lives.  In particular, a survey conducted by Stonewall in 2012 found that more than half of young lesbian, gay and bisexual people said they experienced homophobic bullying at school, while over two-thirds reported that they heard homophobic language often or frequently.  Only three in ten said their school responds quickly to homophobic bullying when it occurs.

These statistics reveal the scale of the problem and that, while some are doing a fantastic job, not …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 23 Comments
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