This chapter introduces three research studies he conducted that relate to homophobic bullying. The central aim in this chapter is to illustrate the experiences that lesbians, gay men and bisexual men and women have faced in U.K. schools. Some of the data illustrated are prospective and some are retrospective. Quantitative (statistical) data is intertwined with qualitative data drawn from extensive interviews with former victims of homophobic bullying and case studies. Unlike many other studies of homophobic bullying, the chapter’s aim here is to provide a rich account of the lives of young...

This chapter introduces three research studies he conducted that relate to homophobic bullying. The central aim in this chapter is to illustrate the experiences that lesbians, gay men and bisexual men and women have faced in U.K. schools. Some of the data illustrated are prospective and some are retrospective. Quantitative (statistical) data is intertwined with qualitative data drawn from extensive interviews with former victims of homophobic bullying and case studies. Unlike many other studies of homophobic bullying, the chapter’s aim here is to provide a rich account of the lives of young people bullied in school because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, and to provide a context in which such behaviour can be explained.