While most of us would like to live in a world where homophobia is a thing of the past, that's sadly not the case.

A survey cited by The Guardian last year found that, even in 2018, large numbers of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK were being offered conversion therapies, with 2% of respondents saying they'd had to go through them and a further 5% admitting to being offered them.

The effects of homophobia are reflected in the lifespan of members of the LGBTQ+ community, who, because of the continued persecution they face, are at a greater risk than cisgender, straight people of taking their own lives. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine, for example, found that LGBTQ+ youth have a higher risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm.

Although the community is being recognized more, legally and socially, until we live in a world where "coming out" is treated with the name nonchalance as announcing a passion for crochet, action needs to be taken to call out homophobia in all its forms - regardless of whether it comes from someone at the bottom or the top of society.

Take, for instance an incident that occurred early on Sunday in Salt Lake City, Utah, where a man was filmed questioning 29-year-old Sal Trejo about his sexuality after referring to him by a homophobic slur on Sunday morning.

When Trejo corrected his assailant and asked to be referred to correctly, he turned violent: 

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In the eight-second clip, which Trejo subsequently posted to his Twitter account in the hope of identifying his attacker, the individual says to the 29-year-old, "Are you gay, though?"

"Oh, I am," Trejo replies.

"Oh, then you're gay," the individual says.

"Yeah, but you called me a [faggot]," Trejo says, correcting him before he was violently struck.

In the caption for the video, Trejo revealed that he was not the only one who had been subject to abuse, writing, "My friends and I were assaulted by this homophobic man in downtown Salt Lake City last night."

The clip subsequently went viral and users of the micro-blogging website were quick to comment on the assault:

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Trejo's decision to share the clip also helped the police to successfully identify the man featured, and he subsequently posted an update about the situation:

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Trejo provided more information about the incident to Buzzfeed News. He said that it took place while he and his friends were waiting on an Uber. They overheard the man say on the phone that he was "standing by the gay guy in the camel coat." In response, Trejo's friends challenged him, and he launched into a full-on homophobic tirade.

"It was weird for someone to say something like that and it very quickly escalated on his end to calling us faggots and calling the girls who were with us fat pigs," Trejo said.

After recording the incident, the man, who Trejo said appeared to be drunk, welded a knife at the group before getting into a BMW and driving away.

The man is reported to have handed himself in to authorities after the video went viral.

Over the summer, 9-year-old Jamel Myles told his mom he was gay. "And he looked so scared when he told me," said his mother, Leia Pierce, in an interview with KDVR. "He was like, 'Mom I’m gay.' And I thought he was playing, so I looked back because I was driving, and he was all curled up, so scared. And I said, I still love you."

She said exactly the right thing, and accepted him. Some LGBT people hide their true selves from friends and family for years, out of fear and shame. But that's not how Jamel felt. Leia said he wanted to tell his classmates because "he's proud of himself" - and he wanted to change his style of clothing. "He goes, 'Can I be honest with you?' And I was like sure, and he’s like, 'I know you buy me boy stuff because I’m a boy, but I’d rather dress like a girl.'"

Last Monday, Jamel started fourth grade at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School Last Thursday, Leia found her son dead in their home. The autopsy confirmed it was a suicide. The Denver, Colorado mom said her son killed himself after being bullied for coming out as gay. "Four days is all it took at school. I could just imagine what they said to him," said Leia. "My son told my oldest daughter the kids at school told him to kill himself. I’m just sad he didn’t come to me."

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The grieving mother says "we should have accountability for bullying," and is "so upset that he thought that [suicide] was his option." In an emotional post, she grieved her son, and wished something could have been done to prevent this. "I lost a reason to breathe... my heart, my sunshine, my son... he was being bullied and i didnt know. Not till it was to late..  i wish i knew everything so i could've stopped this..."

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A spokesperson for Denver Public Schools said they "are very saddened by Jamel’s tragic loss," and issued the following statement:

"It is critical that our students receive all the supports they need to learn and thrive in a safe and welcoming environment. Our formal policies and practices reflect this commitment to ensuring that our LGBTQ+ students can pursue their education with dignity — from policies and training to prevent and stop bullying to formal policies and guidance materials that fully respect gender identity (including use of preferred pronouns and restrooms)."

"Our priority right now is to help all students and adults with the grief they are experiencing, to better understand all the facts surrounding this tragic loss, and to do all we can to prevent another tragedy of this nature in the future."

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Hopefully this tragedy can raise awareness about the serious effects of bullying, the importance of mental health, and the vital need to support vulnerable students. As one father commented on Twitter, "His family did everything right--expressed love & acceptance, & still lost him. That there are things that can destroy our kids that are completely outside our control and love terrifies me as a parent."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, contact Your Life Your Voice on 1-800-448-3000, or the National Suicide Prevention Hotline on 1-800-273-8255.

It's a sad fact that LGBTQ+ people routinely experience harassment, prejudice and abuse in the world of work. Indeed, this is doubly true for queer people who choose to work in the education sector. Gay teachers are often accused by bigoted parents of all manner of conspiracies against heteronormative society: apparently being guilty of corrupting the youth of today, eroding the sanctity of marriage, and everything else in between. However, that doesn't mean that gay people are going to take this homophobia lying down, as this story rightly proves. 

Meet Michael Neri. Michael is a drama teacher who hails from the town of Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, England. Michael runs Talking Props Theatre School, which a performing arts school for children aged eight to 13, and is very popular among his students. However, he recently received a text from a homophobic parent who decided to take their kids out of his classes after learning that he was gay.

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The disgruntled parent (whose name has not been made public) texted Michael, saying: "Hi Michael. Following our chat this week I have decided that -- and -- will not be attending class on Monday. You have a strong reputation for performing arts which encouraged me to sign my children up for classes. I have recently learned of your lifestyle and as a Christian I cannot allow my children to be influenced by unconventional ideas. It is our belief that a man should marry a woman. I look forward to receiving my deposit which you may post to me via cheque."

Michael clapped back in the best possible way, and replied: "I would be lying if I said I was disappointed to hear this. I pride my students on the respect and love they have for others and their passion for equality. You would only be infringing on our family. As far as I'm aware, my sexuality doesn't effect my ability to teach, just like it wouldn't effect a doctor's ability to treat one of your children should they become unwell. I'm sure that your children's health would come first should they need emergency treatment, or would you need to check their doctor's lifestyle prior to their life-saving operation?"

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He added: "I wish you luck in finding an appropriate stage school that meets your needs, however from experience I find that theatre without gays is like cooking without spices. I hear StageCoach are enrolling but their teachers have been known to wear mixed fabrics which I'm sure you are aware is forbidden in the bible 9Leviticus 19:19). Please feel free to come see our musical 'Happy Days', confetti will be used in the finale but please rest assured that this is not an attempt to corrupt your Christian lifestyle. We just love glitter.  Unfortunately deposits are non refundable but don't worry, your deposit has been donated to StoneWall, and LGBT charity."

What an absolutely brilliant response. With that kind of attitude, I have a good feeling that Michael's students will learn a lot of valuable life lessons from him; not just theatre and dance.

The parents of a 12-year-old boy who committed suicide after relentless anti-gay bullying have spoken out.

Eli Fritchley was a seventh-grade student at Cascades Middle school in Shelbyville, Tennessee. As well as being ruthlessly taunted over his clothes and mannerisms, he was also told by classmates he would go to hell for being gay.

On November 28, the bullying became too much to bear and Eli sadly took his own life.

For the first time since the tragic event, his parents Debbey and Steve Fritchley have spoken out about their loss, describing their son as a gentle soul who never hid his true self.

A trombone player in the school band, Eli liked to paint his nails and wore the same Spongebob sweater almost every day. He also enjoyed doing his own laundry and his favorite color was pink.

Reflecting on what drove classmates to bully her son, Debbey told a local news station: "I think probably because he was in the same clothes every single day they used that as a weapon."

She went on to explain that she had previously believed her son didn't care what the other kids thought of him.

"He didn't care, or at least we thought he didn't care, and that's what's really difficult for us because we thought he didn't care."

The grieving mother also recalled how bullies would taunt her son.

"He was told because he didn’t necessarily have a religion and that he said he was gay that he was going to go to Hell. They told him that quite often."

His father Steve then told the news station how, although they were aware of the bullying, they were not aware of the extent of it.

"It was really abusive. I don’t think it was ever physical. I think it was just words, but words hurt. They really hurt," he said through tears.

There has been an outpouring of sympathy and grief on social media for Eli and his parents.

"My heart is broken tonight. Eli Fritchley, I am so so sorry," tweeted one user.

"Using your religion as an excuse to hate or threaten someone who may not follow your religion is NEVER OK," another wrote.

Others drew attention to the GoFundMe set up by Eli's parents, which will "create an anti-bullying campaign in his honor."

Featured Image Credit: LightField Studios Inc. / Alamy

A debate on toxic masculinity has broken out on social media after a teenage boy revealed his father told him to "man up".

The 16-year-old took to the social media site Reddit under the handle @imaginehavingIFunny to share his story, explaining that he had been crying after failing to secure a place on a soccer team.

"I was pretty upset at the whole thing and I told my friends about it," he writes. "Obviously I didn't cry in front of them because I didn't want them to worry about me. I told my [16-year-old girlfriend] about it and she was really sweet and comforted me about it."

The teenager explains that he continued to get upset about missing out on the team and continued to cry at home.

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After being comforted by his sister and his mom, he details his father's response: "My dad (37) asks whats wrong and at first hes making sure that im alright.

"I dont usually cry much in front of them because I don't feel comfortable. After that he talks to me for a bit and he starts scolding me for not doing enough.

"He starts saying that I should've ran more (even though I am the most athletic and have the most stamina in my family). Then he starts lecturing me about how I need to eat more and drink more water (even though I do that too)."

Then things turn problematic when the father tells his son that he "finds it stupid" that his son is "crying over it", before telling him to "man up".

"He starts giving me that lecture about that back when he was young he didn't cry and all that. Trying to sound like a "man." That just makes me mad and I start arguing back. Our [argument] started at around 10 and ended at 11," @imaginehavingIFunny writes. 

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Following the dispute, the teenager explains that he hasn't spoken to his father since, and proceeded to ask the Reddit community if he was being an "a**hole" because of this.

In response to his post, many other Redditors agreed that the teenager was not in the wrong, with one person writing: "He’s trying to push his internalized toxic masculinity on you. Crying is healthy, expressing your feelings is healthy.

"Sometimes you don’t get things you want, like making a team or getting your dream job, and it’s okay to be upset and even cry over it."

A second added: "Never hold your emotions in! Depression and suicide rates are increasing in men because of toxic masculinity! You're allowed to cry, in fact I'd say being in touch with your emotions is awesome and will help you in your future".

A third agreed, typing: "His behavior is why we have so many men punching walls and screaming instead of sitting down with their wives and discussing their feelings.

"His attitude is toxic and unhealthy, and if he keeps it up, there will be a wedge between both of you that will be difficult, if even possible, to fix."

Other commenters also urged the teenager to speak to his father, and recognize that the dad "was not properly equipped to deal with this."

They added: "It is a shortcoming, but it is a product of the environment he grew up in. People commonly acknowledge how bad this forcing 'toxic masculinity' is on boys, but when those boys grow into fathers and they literally don't know any better because they've been conditioned/indoctrinated into it."

Featured image credit: xavierarnau / Getty