The Aurora School Bullying Project
Related pages:
Supporting documents:
From the local press:
Director of Education and LGBT youth leader
Stonewall case studies:
See Also:
Stonewall, the LGB lobby group, provided narratives of LGBT bullying:
Case study 1 - Michael is 16 and lives in Hertfordshire
"I came out to friends in school about a year and a half ago. It was between me and a few good friends but of course the whole school knew within a couple of days. The hassle I received was intolerable, to say the least. When I finally plucked up the courage to speak to a teacher, very little was done."
"Although my head of year was understanding, she acted as if it were a normal everyday case of 'teasing in the playground'. I gave her a list of names of people I knew to be causing a problem but when she spoke to them it got worse."
"When I started going out with my boyfriend things became even worse, though I'd not have thought it possible. We tried talking to the deputy head. We suggested many things to help alleviate the problems, but she always seemed hesitant to act. 'Just keep feeding me the names of the bullies,' she said, and that was it."
"I was sent to the school counsellor to talk about 'my problems'. I developed and still suffer from severe insomnia, for which I was referred to a psychiatrist, and was put on anti-depressants."
"The bullying did ease off eventually, it has never completely gone. It's not as intense now, but it always resurfaces. I can't honestly recall a single day in which I haven't had some sort of reference to my sexuality, or some form of negative view. I'm at a loss to know how every young person in the town seems to know about me."
"My boyfriend's been much luckier then me. He rarely got as much verbal abuse and he's never suffered physical abuse. He's now in the sixth form, he virtually never receives abuse now."
"I haven't been as lucky as him. Being in the year below, my year are less mature and still haven't grown up. I've also received physical violence twice. On each occasion I had to go to hospital. The incidents of assault were reported to the police but each time very little action was taken."
"This has all made me feel terrible. I've self-harmed and I've thought about suicide on more than one occasion."
From the Stonewall website: www.stonewall.org.uk