Underage and Gay- My thoughts and competition entry.

Recently, I watched a documentary on Channel 4 called Underage and Gay about young homosexual and transgender teenagers who have suffered or are currently victims of bullying. It really shocked me especially as I am only a year or two older than some of the teenagers featured. The other day, I was reading the Media Magazine that we get from school and inside the front cover was a competition to write and article of your choice, (around media obviously) with the winning article being published in the next edition. Now, I don't for one minute think I am going to win it but I really enjoyed writing it and I just thought i'd share it here. It is probably riddled with mistakes- even though I proof read it and sounds like it has been written by a 13 year old but I still have an ambition to become a Journalist some day and I guess this is good practice. 

Underage and Gay- A Channel 4 Documentary Reveals the Startling Truth You Didn’t Know Existed.

“Followed you home, you better sleep with one eye open and tell your mum the same.” These are the repulsive words spat down 14 year old Beckham’s mobile phone from a stranger, during the early hours of the morning. Why? Because he is gay.

A recent channel 4 documentary, following five teenagers, explored the discrimination facing Lesbian, Gay, Bissexual and Transgender youngsters today. Beckham, Michaela, Alex, Tameka and Cariad have all suffered severe homophobic bullying throughout their young lives.

I for one believe that prejudice and discrimination is still very much alive in Britain and more needs to be done to prevent it. It is easy to assume that there is growing equality for the LBGT community in the UK, especially with encouraging developments such as the legalisation of gay marriage, passed in July 2013. There is no denying however, that the attitudes of society that need changing.

The average age for young people to come out in Britain is just 15, but recent research published by Stonewall: a leading LGBT charity, revealed that over 55 percent of all homosexual young people experience homophobic bullying and a heart-wrenching, 20 percent of those have attempted suicide on one or more occasions.

“I told him, don’t go out on the streets and flaunt it because there is a lot of people that don’t like it, I don’t want him getting bullied.” 14 year old Beckham’s mother spoke of her worries of her gay son entering a relationship for the first time. The teenager and his boyfriend were shown meeting discreetly in the woods, near his home in Bradford, to avoid abuse from peers. His mother, although very supportive of her son and his bravery to be open about his sexuality, is wracked with worry on a regular basis that Beckham may be the victim of more horrific bullying and it is not without reason.

Beckham is regularly subjected to abuse and threats due to his sexuality, so much so that he has become hardened to it. “I’ve just got used to it so it doesn’t upset me anymore, it’s always going to happen. It’s just one of those things isn’t it?” It is this shocking statement that really struck a chord with me. I find it alarming that a young person had become so insensible to bullying and the inevitability of these fairly frequent and unprovoked attacks. The question is how do we prevent this happening to others?

The program also revealed a lack of co-operation from schools and the police surrounding the issue. The police seemed unwilling to take Beckham’s case seriously, branding the phone call Beckham received as a “hate crime” and therefore unable to take action on the situation. So maybe we should start here. If there is no deterrent or system in place to stop the use of homophobic language and bullying then it is unlikely to be resolved.

Unfortunately, Beckham is not the only one to be the target of homophobia. 15 year old Cariad, also spoke of her battle with the bullies. She said “When I first came out at school I was ostracised by a lot of girls and a lot of boys just wanted to intimidate me and see how far they could get to me...” She comes across extremely well in the program as a confident and mature young adult, way beyond her years and it is extremely encouraging to see how she has handled her situation. However, it worries me that others may not be so resilient.

Both Beckham and Cariad have support networks of good family and friends behind them to help them through the hard times, but what happens when that support ceases to exist?

17 year old Alex is transgender, he suffered domestic violence at home before being relocated and is now living in a youth hostel in Neath. He said, “I Just wanted to cut myself off from all of that and from the people who put me through that pain and just start again.” I find it vastly troubling that there is still such a stigma surrounding the LBGT community and worst still that there are young individuals facing life alone as a result of it. Alex even admitted to having suicidal thoughts at a particularly low point in his life. He does remain however, a hopeful and remarkable individual seemingly void of any self-pity.

I feel that there is a positive future ahead for all of the teenagers featured in the program as they all show positive and promising outlooks on life where others may have crumbled. Above all, the program highlights the stigma and prejudice that still exists in our society surrounding Lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender young people that is simply appalling. I believe that education is the key to combatting this problem. If the next generation become accepting of homosexuality and difference, just as we have become accepting of race and sex, then people may never have to face this abuse again. After all, in the grand scheme of things does it really matter what sex we are attracted to?