Seventy percent of Irish parents said their children were under pressure not to be gay, a recent study has shown.
The labels “gay” and “lesbian" are used as taunts for children as young as 10 years old. The worst thing for a boy to be called is a "girl, woman, or gay", according to the Irish Independent today.
The report, called “Gender and Education” was published by researchers from the University of Limerick. They surveyed 1,915 parents and found that the vast majority – 93 percent – described themselves as Roman Catholic, despite the recent blows the Catholic Church has experienced in Ireland.
The researchers visited 120 Irish schools, and conducted follow-up phone-calls with 24 randomly selected parents. They found homosexuality was a major area of concern, as parents and teens struggle to deal with the issue.
“The fear of being homosexual is a serious worry, both for themselves and how they are perceived by their parents," one parent said, according to the Irish Independent. Another commented, "heroes on television and video games are always strong and heterosexual."
Boys who speak about their feelings are likely to be teased as gay. Fear of the label causes boys to keep their thoughts to themselves, and some parents worry it affects the teens’ ability to communicate.
The report said male teens who are thought to be homosexual are a prime target for bullies.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Temerity | Feb 17, 2010, 05:49 PM EST
Being Gay isn't a choice? In the extreme minority of cases that maybe true,but in most it is a choice today I believe by men too weak and too selfish to take on the responsibilities of a wife and family and all that entails.Like making a real contribution to the country and the community nurturing quality citizens .It really does take a real man to do that. Those who cop out and call it being gay,should tell it how it is.Selfisn and self indulgent. Double income no kids,an easy effete kind of lifestyle.What makes it worse is the spread of aids which in my country has risen to 48% despite of the official figure being 28%.
IrishAndProud | Feb 12, 2010, 11:53 PM EST
No, plasticpaddy...olovely is completely WRONG, and so are you -- on most things I've ever seen you comment on, here. Homosexuality is not normal, and should not be promoted. How about actually disputing anything I've said...rather than just passing it off as 'hate.' YOU'RE full of hate, plasticpaddy, because you cannot stand any dissent, either...just like olovely.
plasticpaddy | Feb 12, 2010, 12:24 AM EST
olovely pay no attention to the hate, you are completely right.
IrishAndProud | Feb 07, 2010, 04:53 AM EST
Olovely, with all due respect, shut up. YOU'RE being the hater, here, because you clearly cannot stand any dissent from your views on this matter. I'm not a Xtian myself and am not even particularly religious -- and I oppose the homosexual LIFESTYLE, completely. It's a behavior, and therefore a choice. I've been a victim of bullying and taunting in my life as well (including in this way), but simply because bullies use this particular verbal tactic to cow and intimidate others should not be used as an opportunity to further promote that lifestyle in the kids who they're bullying -- and who most often are not thinking that way at all, anyway (they're simply being name-called). Using typical schoolyard bullying for such political opportunism accomplishes NOTHING good. That's only compounding the tragedy, and not helping anything, here.
olovely | Feb 06, 2010, 09:26 PM EST
Being gay isn't a lifestyle. It's not like train spotting or pigeon keeping or joining a knitting circle. Being gay is something hardwired into your DNA, like having blue eyes or blond hair. The word "lifestyle" is abused by conservatives and christians, who pretend that the people they hate are simply gay to annoy their neighbors. Ireland has a problem with sexuality full stop. It's no surprise so many of them are a bunch of haters.
kickstar | Feb 06, 2010, 05:39 PM EST
I am not sure the extent of Sex education in Irish schools today and specifically how Gay and Lesbian issues are taught or handled, But I suspect that the acceptance of the fact that there are other forms of sexuality has some resistance by the establishment there and subsequently there is an anti-bias towards Gay and lesbian existence. But with the recent outing of a GAA star there certainly is hope it would only take a few more to come out and we could then see Gay being as normal as any other lifestyle as it should be..