"A particularly nasty example of the prejudice still faced by young people with diverse sexualities and genders" is how a leading youth development project describes the homophobic tirades left on public view on the internet for three weeks after political heavyweight Bill English was alerted that they were apparently the work of his teenage son. Despite intense media coverage following GayNZ.com's revelation of his weeks of inaction on the matter, English has yet to deny that the comments were the work of his son, nor has any apology to LGBT teens been forthcoming. The Bebo profile page containing the comments, which continued to be added to and expanded on after English was made aware of the problem, was finally removed from public view on Tuesday evening, moments after the general media swooped on the story. Bebo is a social networking internet site which is popular with New Zealand adults and, particularly, teenagers. On his own website, in a statement made during the anti-smacking debate, English, who is MP for Clutha/Southland and deputy leader of the National Party, says he is "totally responsible" for the moral welfare of his children. He also acknowledges negative influences of peer pressure, which "seem to take over at a younger and younger age." Homophobic abuse is "one of the last acceptable forms of prejudice" and such verbal abuse can escalate to physical abuse, says Nathan Brown, the National Co-ordinator of the OUT THERE! Youth Development Project. "We feel it isn't being taken seriously enough. Homophobic attacks that use words like ‘poofter' and ‘faggot' send a powerful and threatening message to young people that it is not OK to be different." Brown says that even adults who are uncomfortable with issues around homosexuality need to address homophobia in their children. "Whatever your views on homosexuality, the use of hate language in any context is unacceptable." He advises parents and teachers "to treat these attitudes as they would any form of dehumanizing abuse like racism or sexism. "Ignoring homophobic language will only make the problem get worse." Ref: OUT THERE!, GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 28th September 2007 - 10:04pm