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Seven out of 10 top terms of abuse are homophobic
"In the 'top ten' insults, homophobia reared its head in most cases"
It will come as no surprise to anyone still at school - in whatever capacity - or to any listener of Chris Moyles' Radio 1 show, come to that: 'Gay' is the nation's favourite insult according to teaching union the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. And it's one that teachers are finding increasingly hard to combat, in some part due to Moyles' backing of the word as a term of abuse.
Teachers interviewed found that they heard the word 'gay' used as an insult far more than any other word, with 83% claiming they heard it regularly, against 59% for 'bitch' and 45% for 'slag'. In the 'top ten' insults, homophobia reared its head in most cases with the words 'poof', 'batty boy', 'queer', 'lezzie', 'homo' and 'faggot' all making the 'top ten'. But it's 'gay' that is most hard to tackle, say teachers.
"I have interviewed scores of schoolkids and they are emphatic that it has nothing at all to do with hostility towards homosexuals," claims Professor Clive Upton of Leeds University, who says the word is more synonymous with "lame" than "homosexual". However, the clearly homophobic company the word is keeping in the lexicon of insults seem to throw this theory into some doubt.
The ATL considers the dual usage of the word "gay" to be the main reason teachers find it difficult to deal with in the same way they would more overtly abuse terms such as "batty boy", an import from Jamaica. They are, apparently, afraid of "blowing trivial matters out of proportion" and allow the word in a way they wouldn't allow other homophobic insults.
