Students who admit to being lesbian or gay during their teenage years are more likely to be bullied and less likely to succeed in education, a Massey University study says. The Lavender Islands survey, the most extensive survey of gays and lesbians to be done in New Zealand, found that declaring their sexuality at a young age is associated with bullying and lower educational achievement. People who had gone on to higher education were more likely to come out later in life. The study, which questioned more than 2000 lesbian, gay and bisexual people, found that two-thirds of female respondents and three-quarters of males surveyed had been verbally abused at school because of their sexuality. 9% of women and 18% of men had been physically assaulted. Just over half of the respondents said they were ‘outed' by someone without their permission, and 46% said they had been bullied. One 16-year-old in the survey said when her friend was outed as a lesbian at school the girl became a ‘social pariah'. "People whisper about her wherever she goes and most of my friends bitch about her behind her back," she wrote. The study's author, Mark Henrickson, a senior lecturer in social work at Massey University, said it highlighted a ‘critical need' for teachers and others to support the needs of gay and lesbian teenagers. This month, Out There, a project for young LGBT people, called for more work to be done in schools following the release of a report by the New Zealand Parliamentarians' Group on Population and Development which recommended that all schools should have anti-bullying and anti-homophobia policies. "Schools have a lot of work to do in terms of providing a safe environment for queer young people," Out There spokesman Nathan Brown said. "Teachers who are already working within the system to provide non-judgmental and supportive learning environments need to be supported at the highest levels of school policy." New Zealand Principals' Federation president Judy Hanna said schools had to ensure a safe environment for all students. "The bottom line is that children should be safe at school emotionally as well as physically," she said. Registrations are now open for the second Safety in Schools For Queers conference, to be held in July. AUDIO: The link below is to audio from this afternoon's National Radio programme. Jim Mora spoke to Mark Henrickson and Nathan Brown.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 26th April 2007 - 12:00pm