Frequently Asked Questions about homophobia answered. Created by EACH - Educational Action Challenging Homophobia.

1. WHAT IS HOMOPHOBIA?
Homophobia is a resentment or fear of gay, lesbian and bisexual people. At its
most benign it’s voiced as a passive dislike of gay people. At its most destructive
it involves active victimisation.
Such attitudes can also impact upon anyone who is perceived to be gay, bisexual
or lesbian, someone who has an association with gay people or one who does
not conform to stereotypical expectations of masculine or feminine behaviour.
Homophobia presents itself in young people as the fear of and the reaction to an
issue about which they can have little understanding and to a person perceived
as “different”.
Homophobic name calling and bullying is all too common in British schools.
Teachers and others working in formal and informal settings tell EACH they
regularly witness verbal homophobic bullying. Few schools have fully inclusive
anti-bullying policies which address homophobic bullying.

2. WHAT IS HOMOPHOBIC BULLYING OR
HARRASSMENT?
Just like any form of bullying or harassment, homophobia can include verbal, physical and
emotional abuse by an individual or group but it’s directed specifically at someone who is
lesbian or gay or thought to be by others. What makes it different from other forms of
bullying or harassment is the personal motivation that drives it.
Most homophobic bullying takes place at a time when young people are unsure about
their own developing identity – subjected as they are to the confusing messages our
society sends out about what it means to be “a man” or “a woman” and the stereotype of
what it means to be gay. Homophobia presents itself in young people as the fear of and
the reaction to an issue about which they can have little understanding and to a person
perceived as “different”.
Homophobic harassment of adults is unwanted behaviour which is offensive, causing the
man or woman affected to feel threatened, humiliated or patronised. Such behaviour can
seriously interfere with a person’s personal health, work performance and security,
creating a threatening living or workplace environment.

3. WHO GETS BULLIED OR HARRASSED?
Anyone can become a victim of homophobic bullying or harassment:
•Teenagers who have misjudged their best friend by confiding in them only to find
themselves “outed” are the principal targets of this form of bullying.
•Heterosexual girls and boys who others think of as lesbian or gay can come under similar
attack. Most young people taunted about their sexual orientation are, in reality, too
young to know what their sexuality is.
•Friends of lesbian and gay people are frequently forced to face up to their own
prejudices, fears and preconceptions whilst finding themselves the targets of homophobia
by being “guilty by association”.
•Children of a lesbian or gay parent or brothers and sisters of those homophobically
targeted can often be vulnerable to homophobic abuse from peers should their family
situation become known.
•Adults at home, in the workplace or in the street can find themselves targeted
homophobically.

4. IS HOMOPHOBIA A MAJOR ISSUE?
• One in five lesbian and gay people have experienced a homophobic hate crime or
incident in the last three years.
• 68% of those targeted did not report the incident to anyone.
• Young people aged 18 to 24 are more likely to be the target of homophobic abuse.
• One in six victims of homophobic hate incidents experienced a physical assault and
almost one in six experienced a threat of violence. 88% of victims experienced insults
and harassment.
• Three in five victims experienced a hate incident committed by a stranger under the
age of 25.
• Nearly one in six victims were targeted by offenders who live in the local area, and one
in ten were the victim of an incident committed by a work colleague.
(Source: YouGov survey commissioned by the Home Office, 2008)

5. IS BEING GAY THE PROBLEM?
It’s not being gay that makes some young people unhappy. It’s the negative reaction of
other people that they fear, coming to terms with being ‘different’ and coping with it
that’s difficult. It is even harder if this has to be done in secrecy from family, friends and
teachers.
Lesbian and gay people of all ages can find themselves emotionally exhausted by having
to reconcile how they are feeling inside with the problems others have in coming to terms
with their sexuality.

6. WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
Overall there is a clear legal framework for schools and other agencies to work within,
backed up by national policy guidance:
•Education Act 2011
•Education and Inspections Act 2006
•Equality Act 2010
•Every Child Matters: Change for Children 2004 and Ofsted’s 2005 framework for
reporting how a school is promoting the five outcomes
•Sex and Relationship Education, DfES, 2000
•National Healthy Schools Standard, DfES 1999
•School Standards and Framework Act 1988
•Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003