by Yael - Contributing writer 

Homophobic bullying is a major issue amongst LGBT teens but, while the community is fighting the battle for gay marriage is so many countries, it often takes a backseat.

This past year Stonewall (an organisation that campaigns for the rights of LGB people) started an anti-homophobic bullying campaign, citing research that LGBT teens have the highest suicide rate amongst teenagers. However, this campaign has been relatively unsuccessful, many people claim that this is due to the fact that it was completely set up by gay organisations and therefore lacked authority among straight people.

by Eddie-S 

But now there is a new campaign to be launched in Scotland by the parliament that will provide £480,000 for an anti-bullying campaign. This will contain special programs to combat homophobic bullying as it is seen by the government as a key area. The campaign is managed by the Scottish association for mental health partnered with LGBT Youth Scotland.

Scotland has often been ahead of the rest of the UK when it comes to anti-homophobic bullying. In September of this year there were conferences run for teachers by LGBT Youth Scotland where there were sessions on how to deal with homophobic bullying and toolkits were given out so that teachers knew what to do in day to day scenarios.

Although this campaign is not the whole answer, it is a step in the right direction and gives us hope for future anti-homophobia campaigns, whether the issue is equality under the law, in our workplaces or in our schools.