OUR LATEST ISSUE
Homophobic Britain: landmark survey reveals widespread prejudice
Stonewall: gay rights charity
Two-thirds of gay under 19ââ¬â¢s bullied at school
"Too many public services are a bit too smug about the progress made towards fair treatment for the lesbian and gay taxpayers who help fund them."
The first major gay rights equality survey has uncovered continuing homophobic discrimination at every level of British society.
The survey, which was commissioned by gay rights charity Stonewall, has found that the 1,658 gay, lesbian and bisexual people poled expected prejudice throughout the public services with their worst fears of discrimination centering on schools.
Of those polled, two-thirds of lesbian and gay people under 19 said they endured bullying of a homophobic nature at school compared with only half of those aged 35-44. Furthermore, the results showed prejudice was not limited to the playground, with 80% of those polled believing they would have difficulty if they applied to become a school governor.
However, schools were not the only public service to be negatively implicated in the polls. Fear of discrimination was noted in the NHS, emergency services, political parties and local housing schemes. Across Britain, one in 14 lesbian and gay people expect to be treated less well than heterosexuals when accessing healthcare.
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s chief executive, said: "Too many public services are a bit too smug about the progress made towards fair treatment for the lesbian and gay taxpayers who help fund them.”
