Children are using homophobic slurs ‘without even realising they’re hateful’

TikTok trends were a major way that young people heard homophobic slurs (Picture: Getty Images)

Nearly eight in 10 LGBTQ+ youngsters have heard homophobic language, whether it be in school hallways or on social media, a survey has found.

In a survey of 31,875 pupils across the UK, LGBTQ+ primary and secondary students described being taunted and harassed by their peers.

But some without their peers even realising they were being homophobic at all.

LGBTQ+ youth charity Just Like Us found that 78% of the 4,307 primary school children aged nine to 11 surveyed have heard homophobic language.

This was no different for secondary school students, with 80% saying the same.

Primary school pupils said they heard the word gay being used as a derogatory insult, especially in viral TikTok trends.

Students described their peers using homophobic language without knowing it’s anti-LGBTQ+ (Picture: Getty Images)

In schools across the country, LGBTQ+ students are more likely to be bullied and suffer from anxiety and depression than their straight peers, studies have found. Beaten, locked in toilets, kicked and taunted, half of LGBTQ+ youngsters don’t report such violence as they feel teachers turn a blind eye to it.

And the Just Like Us’ research was no different. ‘Because I’m a boy and have long hair I have been called gay before as an insult,’ a primary school pupil in Glasgow said.

Another student from Sandhurst, Berkshire, told researchers that they heard people use homophobic language after hearing them on TikTok.

‘We mainly hear people call each other “gay” as an insult or a joke. This is because we see it trending on TikTok,’ they said.

One such trend is the ‘Do you speak English or Spanish?’ meme when a TikToker walks up to someone and asks them the question to ensure they can communicate.

The original creator approached a group of seemingly straight men and told them, ‘Whoever moves first is gay,’ before they froze still, according to the Know Your Meme, a database for the internet’s inside jokes.

Many of the children and teens surveyed said they heard homophobia on TikTok (Picture: Getty Images)

Some videos replicating the original clip have been seen by more than 11 million people.

A parent of a nine-year-old child said they recently saw his friends play a TikTok ‘game’.

‘The rules were simple: if you guessed wrong, the others would say, “You’re gay”, the parent said.

‘At first, Jacob tried to join in, but after a while, he started to feel uncomfortable with the game. Eventually, he told his friends: “I’m not playing this anymore.”

‘One of his friends immediately shot back: “Well, you’re gay.”

‘Jacob, frustrated, replied: “No, I’m not, but my foster carers are gay, and what’s wrong with that?” His friends didn’t say anything after that, but Jacob was left feeling upset and angry.’

Given that Jacob has gay foster parents, he was confused, to say the least, as to why his peers were using gay as an insult.

Online homophobic bullying has been surging for years even as social media platforms toughen their anti-discrimination policies. TikTok, used by 50% of children in the UK, say in its community guidelines that it does not condone homophobic slurs or attacks.

Just Like Us conducted the sprawling survey with VotesforSchools, which engages children in political and social issues, in June.

But ‘gay’ being used as an insult is nothing new. Stonewall launched a campaign in 2013 to tackle the ‘epidemic levels of homophobia’ riddling schools, with 99% of youths at the time saying they heard the phrase, ‘That’s so gay,’ at school.

The survey reflects a climate in which hatred against LGBTQ+ people has become increasingly widespread. Campaigners describe the UK, once considered a beacon for LGBTQ+ rights in Europe, as increasingly unsafe for queer people.

There has been a 462% increase in sexual orientation hate crime reports since 2012, though new figures from the Home Office suggest reports of hate crimes are slowly decreasing.

Education, Just Like Us’ chief executive Laura Mackay said, is key to squashing the rise in homophobia. The charity has rolled out resources for teachers to help them encourage compassion in their classes.

‘Homophobic language should never be dismissed as “just a joke” because we know it has real-life consequences, impacting the self-esteem and feelings of shame among LGBT+ young people and those from same-sex families,’ she said,

‘We all agree we are more aware after lessons and discussions in school. It is helping our awareness and allows us to be better allies,’ said a child from Bristol.

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