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I was in my last year of primary school when other pupils started calling me a queer and saying I sounded gay. I knew it was an insult, but didn’t really know what it meant at the time.

When I came out, at 14, I started to get hassle on Facebook. People started commenting on my posts – which were nothing to do with my sexuality – saying things like “you shouldn’t be on Facebook, you faggot”.

It began to affect my school work; I didn’t want to put my hand up or take part in group work because people would tease me about my voice being “gay”. Sometimes I reacted badly and lashed out, which got me into trouble.

PE was the worst. Once, another pupil came up to me in his boxer shorts and said “Do you find this attractive? Do you want this? Do you want to suck my dick?” The teacher stood there, laughing. I went to my headteacher and said “if you don’t want me to take that kid to court, then you do something about it”. As far as I was concerned, it was sexual abuse, but he wasn’t even punished. They just told him not to do it again and, rather than tackle the problem, asked me to get changed in the disabled toilet.

At my lowest point, I did contemplate suicide. There is only so much you can take of people telling you you’re disgusting and vile.

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TW: homophobia, suicide.

THIS is why we have to challenge homophobia in schools, this is why we have to write papers that challenge Mark McCormack when he says that homophobia is decreasing in western cultures, THIS IS WHY I GET SO MAD WHEN PEOPLE SAY “THATS SO GAY”.