Nearly half of pupils subjected to homophobic bullying

According to research commissioned by gay rights charity Stonewall, many LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi and trans) young people continue to face significant challenges in Britain’s schools.

The new report is Stonewall’s new research with the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge into the experiences of over 3,700 (LGBT) pupils in Britain’s schools.

The research found that nearly half of LGBT pupils (45 per cent) – including 64 per cent of trans pupils – are bullied for being LGBT in Britain’s schools.

However, this is down from 55 per cent of lesbian, gay and bi pupils who experienced bullying because of their sexual orientation in 2012 and 65 per cent in 2007.

Half of LGBT pupils hear homophobic slurs ‘frequently’ or ‘often’ at school, down from seven in 10 in 2012.

Seven in 10 LGBT pupils report that their school says that homophobic and biphobic bullying is wrong, up from half in 2012 and a quarter in 2007. However, just two in five LGBT pupils report that their schools say that transphobic bullying is wrong.

In addition to this, the report shows that one in five LGBT pupils have been taught about safe sex in relation to same-sex relationships.

More than four in five trans young people have self-harmed, as have three in five lesbian, gay and bi young people who aren’t trans

More than two in five trans young people have also attempted to take their own life, and one in five lesbian, gay and bi students who aren’t trans have done the same.