'Gay' still used as insult in schools, Stonewall finds

The word "gay" is still being used as an insult in the vast majority of schools, according to research carried out by Stonewall.

The charity also found that 99% of homosexual teenagers had heard homophobic language used regularly.

Drama student Joe Paterson, 18, was bullied for being gay at school. He told BBC Radio 5 live's Phil Williams: "You're somehow inferring that being gay is bad whether you mean it or not... I think there needs to be a zero tolerance approach."

Luke Tryl, who is leading the campaign for the charity Stonewall, also told the programme "If you constantly hear the word gay equated with being rubbish or being bad, then that starts to have a real impact on you."