Attitudes

LGB young people often feel that the attitudes of other people can lead them to feel negative about being gay.

Workers should build a programme that reflects all aspects of being gay and bisexual and should challenge LGB young people’s perceptions of the gay community through discussion. A balanced programme that may even conform to some stereotypes of the gay community is needed if acceptance of community is to be embraced by all. Prejudices expressed by workers can often hinder this process and all workers need to be aware of their own discriminatory attitudes.

Schools

Many of the issues raised here are around homophobic attitudes towards LGB young people by staff and other pupils. There is also evidence highlighting the lack of information regarding sex and relationships education. The average age of LGB young people feeling differently from their peers varies, but for most it’s by the age of 13 and before puberty. The period between LGB young people feeling different and talking to someone about it can be lengthy due to lack of confidence and information. This can lead to feelings of isolation, depression, low self-esteem, self hate, anxiety and suicide.

LGB young people who attend groups should be able to build up their own independent peer support groups within the membership of the group and this should also be encouraged through working with young people on issues such as friendship. This leads to LGB young people gaining support away from the school environment.

Often workers are asked to work with schools to provide training or PSHE lessons on sexuality. It is recommended that this work starts with teachers as this then leads to teachers themselves taking on the work with their students, which will send a message to students about the schools policy on homophobic bullying. There is now a great deal of written quality work within schools on sexuality issues.