BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — “Education plays a key role in supporting LGBT young people and also tackling the underlying prejudices which can lead to homophobic and transphobic bullying," Ireland's education minister said at the first European Union-level conference on homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools.
Ruairí Quinn opened the conference, which brought together Irish policy makers, teachers, school leaders and NGOs to tackle the issue, Pink News reports.
Michael Barron, of BeLonG To Youth Services, is quoted as saying there is a "growing understanding of the seriousness of the issues for young LGBT people, both in Ireland and across Europe."
Barron noted that Ireland's education department recently produced a national action plan on bullying that "integrates measures to tackle prejudice, including homophobia and transphobia, which are the root causes of much bullying."
