I don’t know anyone that failed to notice that when most of the starry-eyed new group of Freshers entered the Bazaar in the union this year, their first port of call was not the LGBT stall. People swarmed like daisies around the Amnesty and soccer groups and God help them, even the Dragonslayers seemed to reel in a few loose ends. Yet, you would be forgiven for believing that over at the “rainbow-tastic” stall they were giving out free goody bags full of anthrax. So why has the LGBT seemingly died a sudden death and what are the reasons behind this?

BY ORLA MACKLE

Coming out at university is an age-old ritual. I can’t recount to you the amount of times since I’ve been at Queen’s that a boy, who had subsequently been playing kiss chase with the girls in primary school, has since started “batting for the other team” as soon as Fresher’s week begins and has a band new spanking “Mister” in tow. Given that statistics prove that a person is likely to know they are homosexual by the average age of 10, this is hardly surprising.

University is a time when you can branch out on your own, and it could be argued that many don’t feel like they really know themselves, or can explore their sexuality fully until they get away from the homophobic tendencies of their small country schools or home towns, where they believe their sexuality would not be accepted. In a recent national survey, 28% of gay and lesbian secondary school students were seen to have dropped out of school because of harassment resulting from their sexual orientation, thus it is no surprise that many choose to wait until University to voice their sexual preferences.

But given the bleak turn-out at this year’s Fresher’s recruiting for LGBT,  is Belfast really as homo-friendly as we expect it to be in the modern cosmopolitan era? One such student of the gay community at Queen’s remarked, “I would be terrified to hold hands around Belfast with a partner, especially at night , you’d probably be beaten up by some macho football head. And kissing during the day in the park for example is out of bounds, it wouldn’t be worth the hassle.”

Hasn’t our society moved on from this sort of behaviour? We would like to think we have, but it appears not to be the case.

This type of mentality that leans towards homophobia is enshrined in the deeply offensive words of Northern Ireland MP Irish Robinson  professed a couple of months ago, when she declined an invite by Belfast’s LGBT group to be a guest at a drama about anti-gay discrimination,

“I have a very lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he tries to help homosexuals – trying to turn away from what they are engaged in. I’m happy to put any homosexual in touch with this gentleman and I have met people who have turned around and become heterosexuals.”

When the people running our government are declaring these views and are able to get away with such outrageously distasteful comments, it is not surprising that so many people, particularly older generations, have adopted these as social norms, preventing many people in the gay community in Northern Ireland to be able to live free happy lives.

Statistics show that homophobia in Northern Ireland has doubled three fold in the last two years, stating that 23% of the population would have a problem with a gay, lesbian or bisexual person. Also worryingly, the Equality Commission has reported an increase in the number of homophobic attacks in the greater Belfast area, and sadly 64% of these go unreported.

Perhaps those on our campus with this discriminatory outlook would do best to think of the repercussions if the situation was reversed, if they were forced to hide their true identities and genuine loving relationships from the world and never able to truthfully express themselves.

It’s time for forward-thinking.