National "Stop Homophobic Bullying" Petition North West Launch

10.30.44am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 26th Aug 2006

John Leech MP launching "Stop Homophobic Bullying" Petition in North West at Manchester Pride 2006

John Leech, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington, today launched the "Stop Homophobic Bullying" Petition in the North West, at the Lib Dem Stall in the Lifestyle Expo area at Manchester LGBT Pride.

Liberal Democrats are campaigning to stamp out homophobia in schools. The "Stop Homophobic Bullying" Petition supports work currently being done in Parliament by Liberal Democrat MPs and Members of the House of Lords to get Government support for the following measures :-

• Homophobic taunts and name calling in schools to be challenged immediately by staff

• All schools' anti-bullying policies to be required to include measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying

• At least one teacher in every school to undergo training which includes how to tackle homophobic bullying

John Leech MP, who is supporting a Parliamentary Early Day Motion to tackle homophobic bullying, said:

"Homophobic bullying affects many pupils, teachers and school staff whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or straight and can cause lasting harm. It is time that the Government had a clear strategy to stamp out homophobia in schools. I am proud today to be launching the "Stop Homophobic Bullying" Petition in the North West at Manchester LGBT Pride - a petition which outlines clear measures that the Government can promote to end this scourge in our playgrounds and classrooms. I urge you to sign our Petition and support the campaign to stamp out homophobia in schools!"

For more details, and to sign the e-petition, go to:

http://www.libdems.org.uk/campaigns/stop-homophobic-bullying.html

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