Andrew Hayden-Smith talks anti-gay bullying

Just the other day, while sitting on the train, I overheard a bunch of school children in their early teens as they flicked through a newspaper, pointing out various well-known personalities and jokingly labelling them as ‘gay’, or as a ‘gay bender’ without so much as a second thought. Although there was no real malice in their tone, it did get to me that they would use sexuality to show their disdain towards another human being like that.

Memories of school life came flooding back to me.

The only time the word ‘gay’ was ever mentioned when I was at school was in the playground, and even then it was only ever used to as a taunt or a putdown. Having said that, ‘gay’ was usually one of the nicer ways of implying that you did in fact bat for the same team after all. The countless other, far more hurtful and derogatory labels to describe one’s sexuality can cut deep and stay with you long after school life is over, as many of us will know.

I suffered my fair share of name-calling during my time at school. Most of it at the expense of my sexuality, but thankfully that was as far as it went and I was more or less left to my own devices. I was on a popular children’s TV show and that alone was enough to freak out the majority of my schoolmates, automatically setting me apart from them. I was cast aside by my peers and isolated. At the time it wasn’t pleasant but looking back I now consider myself quite lucky when I hear what others were – and are – subjected to on a daily basis.

So it goes without saying that I was incredibly pleased to hear that ITV and Stonewall have paired up to start a campaign with the aim of targeting homophobic bullying in schools. The launch film sees various ITV employees and familiar ITV faces including Emmerdale’s Alicya Eyo, X Factor finalist Marcus Collins and TOWIE’s Bobby Norris open up about their own personal experiences with bullying. Students from three London schools will be offered the chance to create their own anti-bullying campaigns and the winner from each school will have their idea brought to life by the Creative team at ITV.

A campaign like this will offer huge support and comfort to young people who are in a similar situation to those taking part in the film. It shows them there are in fact many others who have been in a very similar position and, more importantly, have made it through the hardship that bullying presents and gone on to lead happy lives – while forging successful careers to boot. Perhaps even more importantly, the bullies themselves might hopefully learn more about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of such hurtful behaviour.

Statistics from Stonewall’s School Report from 2012 confirm that 23% of gay and bisexual boys have attempted suicide while as many as 57% have contemplated taking their own life.

For those who suffered at the hands of bullies in the past, for those going through the pain of it right now and for future generations, let’s hope campaigns like this will help make a dramatic difference to those statistics.

> Andrew Hayden-Smith looks back on ‘Queer As Folk’

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