Some 72 per cent of respondents reported experiencing verbal abuse while 51 per cent reported feeling unsafe showing affection with a same-sex partner in public. Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/ AFP via Getty
The report, conducted for LGBTQ+ youth organisation Belong To, follows the first detailed report on the mental health of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community in 2016. When compared to a 2019 study carried out by University College Dublin researchers on mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, there was a much higher rate of reported self-harming, the new report said.
One in four reported being punched, hit or physically attacked while one in three had been touched sexually without their consent. One in six reported sexual violence due to being LGBTQ+. “I’ve experienced a large amount of transphobic bullying from people in my class. They told me that I was a freak and that I was just saying that I was gender-fluid for attention. They told me to die, starve myself because I was fat, that I was ugly and spread rumours around my whole school year that I had lice,” said a 14-year-old participant.
Some 84 per cent of participants said they would be comfortable if their child was LGB, while 69 per cent said the same if their child was transgender.