Secondary schools must develop admissions policies that are "welcoming" of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, the Equality Authority has said.
There is an "urgent need" for schools to address their responsibilities in relation to the problem of homophobic bullying with clear policies and codes of behaviour, the chief executive of the Equality Authority, Niall Crowley, said yesterday.
Victimisation on the grounds of gender was prohibited under the Equal Status Acts, he said.
"A person who is responsible for the operation of an educational institution must ensure that any person who had a right to be there is not harassed or sexually harassed," he said.
"The responsible person will be liable for the harassment or sexual harassment unless he or she took reasonable, practicable steps to stop it."
Mr Crowley was speaking at the introduction of an initiative to stop homophobia in schools, including the distribution of a poster to post-primary schools.
Recent research found that 79 per cent of teachers were aware of homophobic bullying in their school, but that 90 per cent reported that their school's anti-bullying policy did not refer to gay or lesbian issues.
The Minister of State for Education, Síle de Valera, praised the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth group BeLonG that devised the poster in conjunction with the Equality Authority.
"I consider it highly significant that the impetus for this initiative came directly from young people in response to their own experiences of bullying in school."
