Teenager 'bullied for being gay'

By Tammy McAllister
BBC Somerset

John says homophobia was commonplace at his school

A teenager from Somerset has described how the pressures of coming out led to anorexia and homophobic bullying.

The 17-year-old boy said gays and lesbians at his school were subjected to ignorant comments and suspicion.

He was also attacked on a bus by a complete stranger who shouted homophobic abuse while others stood by and watched.

John now says he and his partner are even fearful of holding hands in public because of the reaction they might get.

'Most annoying thing'

John - not his real name - came out during Year 11 (when he was 15).

Although his friends and parents were supportive, the reality was different in the school environment as a whole.

"I got quite a good reaction as they were my close friends and when I came out fully I didn't get bad reactions to my face but I heard there were some comments behind my back."

He says part of the problem was that some pupils were friendly to his face, but would make jokes about his sexuality behind his back.

It's not nice knowing that you can't do all the coupley things like holding hands in the street without getting weird looks John, 17, from Somerset

"I was going on the Duke of Edinburgh expedition and one of the boys in my group said behind my back that he didn't want to be in my tent as I would obviously try to do something in the night as I obviously fancied him because of my sexuality.

"It wasn't nice knowing that and I didn't want to speak to him at all. The most annoying thing is that to my face he was nice but behind my back he was bitching about me so you don't know where you stand with them."

He says there was another boy at his school who was gay who also had to put up with open suspicion, where they would suspect him of ''putting it on'' as a way of ''seeking attention''.

'Amount of stares'

For John coping on his own as a young and gay teenager without any support from school or through other networks made him feel isolated.

It eventually led to an eating disorder.

"I was anorexic for a bit but that stopped because my best friend was anorexic as well and she went to hospital. It was because of all the pressure to fit into the ideal gay person - the stereotypical one - you can't be fat and gay 'cos that's weird apparently."

His situation has improved since then.

He is now at college where there is no homophobia but he remains careful about giving away anything about his sexuality, like public displays of affection with his partner.

"It's not nice knowing that you can't do all the coupley things like holding hands in the street without getting weird looks, or kissing in public without getting stared at because I've done that at a bus station and the amount of stares we got wasn't nice."

He also added that he and his partner were always fearful of how others might react, ''because they might get aggressive and you don't want to get beaten up".

"I also got punched on a bus just because I looked at someone, 'cause he thought I was gay, and he screamed [abusive words and], 'if I see you again, I'm going to beat you up', just because I looked at him.

"Everyone was just staring and the only thing that stopped him from coming back was that someone put his hand out to stop him. No-one asked to see if I was okay."

John feels that part of the problem is the lack of education in schools.

"You don't learn about it in sex education, you learn about basic straight sex - none about homosexual sex and I don't think I learnt about homosexuals at all; about why people are gay or straight."