Sexual orientation determines whether you

have sexual feelings for boys, girls or both

and can be observed as heterosexuality,
homosexuality and bisexuality.
Many people suffer from homophobic
abuse.
Homophobia means ‘fear of homosexuals’.
Individuals can be discriminated against
because of their sexuality. They can be
affected verbally, mentally and
physically.

Homophobia can also be influenced by

different religions.
For example, in Christianity, Christians
believe that a man should be married to
a woman, not ‘man and man’ and not
‘woman and woman.’ This belief comes
into practice from the idea of Adam and
Eve.
In Islam, homosexuality is considered
wrong and sinful.
Ways of discrimination
Stereotyping
Stereotyping is the belief that all people are the
same.
Examples of stereotyping:
‘Gay people are likely to be camp and feminine.’
‘Lesbians are more likely to be butch and manly’.
Prejudice
Labelling
This is when individuals show negative attitudes
This is a mild form of
towards other individuals and groups.
stereotyping.
Homosexuals can experience this by harassment
of individuals at work and school. For example; Examples of labelling:
A homosexual getting treated differently and Using offensive names
unfairly by their employer by giving them worse to label a group of
jobs just because they are gay. homosexuals such as
‘queer’ and ‘fag’ etc.
Bullying
This is when someone uses their power to intimidate another
individual. It is classed as abuse.
Examples of bullying of sexuality are;
• Threatening behaviour-People getting threatened that they are
going to get beaten up because they are gay.
• Nicknames-such as ‘dyke’ can cause upset and low self-esteem
to a service user.
• Offensive jokes-can also bring upset to an individual.
• Physical attack- Homosexuals could be attacked physically just
because of their sexuality.
• Verbal attack- Homosexuals could be attacked verbally just
because of their sexuality, although verbal attacks can be more
aggressive and could go on forever. In worst cases, this could
lead to suicide.
• Exclusion from treatment- Just because they are ‘gay’, they
might get treated differently to someone that is ‘straight’.
Everybody has individual rights. If a individual is suffering from
These include: homophobic abuse, then they will
• being respected feel their rights are being lost.
• being treated equally All rights should be respected and
everyone should have the same
• not being discriminated against
rights.
• a right for protection
• a right to communicate the way they want
too
• treated as an individual
• being treated in a dignified way
Low self-esteem
People who are suffering from
homophobic abuse often suffer from low
self-esteem. This can cause the individual
to feel that they can’t cope with life
changes. They also won’t have self-belief.
Restricted opportunities
If a service user suffers from
homophobic abuse, then they could not be
offered many opportunities to do well in
life. On the other hand, if they do get
offered these opportunities, then a lack
of self-esteem would mean a lack of self-
belief ending up with the opportunities
goal not being achieved.
Marginalisation
This means that individuals
wont be able to participate
fully on the job in hand. This
could mean the service user
could be left with a sense of
neglect. This will lower their
self-esteem.
Disempowerment
This means they are not able to
take actions for themselves.
Some homosexual’s may feel
that they can’t fight the
discrimination and can’t do
anything about it.
Negative behaviours

People who experience negativity will often

feel negative about themselves. This will lead
to low self-esteem.
There can also be aggression towards someone
who is homosexual which is called homophobia.

Unfortunately, discrimination against

homosexuality is still happening today.
I think that everyone has the right to be
treated equally, no matter what your sexuality
is.