Over half of pupils believe coming out would result in bullying in school.
A new poll from BeLonG To, the national LGBT-plus youth organisation which was founded by Glenmore man Michael Barron, found 52% of students think if someone in their class came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, they would be bullied.
Hundreds of schools are taking part in Stand Up Awareness Week this week, to take a stand against anti-LGBT bullying.
Moninne Griffith, chief executive of Belong To, says the survey results should sound alarm bells for schools, noting “What we know from the research is the impact of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying is that poor outcomes in terms of mental health, in terms of academic performance and attendance so it’s obviously within everybody’s interests then that we enter off this form of bullying in schools”.
