Homophobia is rife within Northern Ireland's police service, a new report claimed today.
Gay and lesbian officers have been allegedly taunted and harassed because of their sexuality, with senior male officers ignoring the abuse, according to the Institute for Conflict Research study.
Even though some victims were too scared to come out, researchers claimed they had confided in them during an independent assessment of attitudes and experiences of policing among black, ethnic minority and gay communities.
Katy Radford of the ICR said of those officers interviewed: "All of them to a man and woman came up with an extraordinarily damning experience they had from fellow colleagues, anything from verbal abuse to continual haranguing.
"There were people sticking things on people's lockers, commenting as they walked past or singing jibing songs.
"Most of them chose not to reveal their sexual orientation to colleagues, but when they did come out it was even worse."
The ICR carried out two separate research projects commissioned jointly by the Northern Ireland Policing Board and Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's office.
As well as surveying ethnic minority communities they questioned lesbian, gay and bisexual groups on their contact with and perceptions of the PSNI.
The report found 56 per cent of the 233 LGB people interviewed across Northern Ireland were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service from police. Nearly one in three (31 per cent) had been the victim of a crime within the last 12 months, with more than half of those (58 per cent) believing it was motivated by homophobia.
But one in four (25 per cent) who had experienced problems with police felt it was due to their sexual orientation.
It also emerged that gays and lesbians in nationalist areas faced further alienation from their neighbours because of their association with the PSNI.
PA