Homophobia in our schools: Hate out of date and out of place

It would be nice, but wrong, to pretend that protests and arson attacks around proposals on direct provision centres were provoked by nothing other than a concern around the suitability of the premises, their location, or a community’s capacity to absorb new neighbours. There was, no matter how it is fudged, more than a tinge of racism involved. To pretend otherwise is dishonest and dangerous. One of the less attractive characteristics of society was exposed.

BeLonG To’s School Climate Survey reveals another. It shows that 73% of LGBTI+ students feel unsafe at school because they experience physical or sexual assault, harassment or abuse at school. Three out of four LGBTI+ students experience verbal harassment, 38% face physical harassment, while 11% experience physical assault because of their sexual orientation, gender, or gender expression.

The survey means homophobia is, like racism, active in our society. That is hardly surprising, it exists in most societies. What is more than surprising is the age of those who feel free to be so critical of their peers. Anyone in school today was born long after the old attitudes of hatred and formal suppression had passed. Anyone in school today enjoys the education system supported by a society that voted for marriage equality almost five years ago. They are, like it or not, out of step with today’s Ireland. Those who inculcate such hatred and those who express it must be challenged.