80% of gay students say Ireland is homophobic - survey

Nearly 80 per cent of gay Irish students believe we live in a homophobic society, according to the preliminary results of a survey released today.

The Union of Students in Ireland survey also shows that 18 per of all students have had a sexual encounter with someone of the same sex, while 10 per cent regard themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual. The survey questioned 500 students last October in 15 colleges throughout the island of Ireland.

Among men, 12 per cent describe themselves as either gay or bisexual, while 8 per cent of women are lesbian or bisexual.

Overall, 70 per cent of students think society is homophobic, while only 9 per cent believe it is not. Just over 20 per cent believe this is due to religious doctrine which inferred that homosexuality is sinful, while a quarter blamed poor sex education in schools.

Although 79 per cent of respondents claimed they would not react negatively if their best friend told them they were gay, only 23 per cent said they would be comfortable if a sibling broke the same news. Some 27 per cent said having a gay brother or sister would be "weird", while one in 12 would be "devastated" and 3 per cent said they would be "angry".

Two-thirds of the respondents would not be bothered if they saw a same-sex couple kissing or holding hands in public, although one in six said they would not like it. A total of 5 per cent said they would "cross the street".

The survey reveals half of all male students have had homophobic language directed at them, and three-quarters of gay and bisexual men have been subjected to verbal homophobic abuse.

The USI's lesbian, gay and bisexual rights officer, Mr Tadhg O'Brien, said it was "saddening" that homomphobia was still prevalent. "Clearly much work remains to be done to combat bigotry in society as a whole," he said.