Stereotype of ‘bullied, at-risk’ homosexual youth queried
An education researcher has queried the stereotype of the “ bullied ” or “at-risk” homosexual youth, suggesting it is a construction of scientific literature that may be counter-productive. University of New England academic Tiffany Jones appears to have broken ranks from many colleagues in the field by highlighting the deficiencies of some advocacy-driven research studies, particularly those presenting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer ( GLBTIQ ) youth as victims of homophobic bullying. It is an extraordinary admission given Professor Jones’s role as a collaborator on a high-profile research project , the 2010 Writing Themselves In 3 study, which has propagated this view and formed the basis for education policy across the country, including the Safe Schools gender and sexual diversity program. In a paper published in the Journal of Sex Education , Professor Jones argues that the “bullied GLBTIQ student” is a recent emergence constructed by resear