Telling someone

It’s up to you if you tell anyone about your sexuality. No-one has the right to tell someone else how to live their life or bully them because of their sexuality. This is known as homophobic bullying. If you experience this you should tell someone you trust this could be a teacher, friend, parent or helpline.

EACH (Education Action Challenging Homophobia) is a charity for young people and adults affected by homophobia. It has a free helpline that’s open weekdays between 10am and 4pm – just call them on:

0808 100 0143.

There’s also a lesbian and gay organisation called GALOP that offers free help around homophobic violence or harassment and police responses to it. It’s confidential and you can call them on:

020 770 2040.

The NHS choices site has information about telling people you are gay, lesbian or bi-sexual – this is known as ‘coming out’. It includes the sorts of things you should consider before making a decision and video of young people talking about their experiences of ‘coming out’. Visit the site to find out more.