Help stop homophobic bullying
A 14-year old girl, after disclosing to a friend she might be a lesbian, was forced by the PE teacher to sit outside the changing rooms before and after sports lessons until the "normal" children have changed.
A boy who came out when he was 12 was persecuted at school as a
consequence. He had a camp way of speaking and walking, which the other children
didn't like. "People would put up signs saying I had Aids, that I was a dirty,
HIV faggot and not to go near me. I was punched and kicked.”
All
bullying has serious effects on victims, often resulting in failure to achieve
their full potential at school, or to their truancy, self-harm and in some
cases, suicide.
Liberal Democrats have a general concern about all aspects of bullying. We
are turning the spotlight on this particular problem because homophobic bullying
is harder to monitor and tackle at the moment. It is not about being
“politically correct” but ensuring that all pupils know bullying will not be
tolerated – and there are no exceptions:
Homophobic bullying affects not only pupils who grow up to be gay, but
those with gay family members and pupils labeled “gay” by their peers. Words as
“gay” are commonly bandied about as an insult, frequently unchallenged by staff
in schools.
If homophobic bullying is to be successfully challenged then it needs
leadership from the top to set high standards of expected behaviour and ensure
all pupils can learn in safety.
Sign our
petition
We, the undersigned, call for the following
to support and protect the victims of homophobic bullying:
1. Homophobic
taunts and name calling in schools should be challenged immediately by
staff.
2. All schools' anti-bullying policies should be required to include
measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying.
3. At least one
teacher in every school should undergo training which includes how to tackle
homophobic bullying.
Number of signatures so far:
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Stonewall
survey
If you're at school or a college of Further
Education, and you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or not sure about your sexuality,
you may also be interested in the online survey being carried out by Stonewall.
Comments
made
This is a selection of the comments submitted by
people who have signed the petition
