THE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
The schools represented
The lesbian, gay and bisexual
respondents attended 31 different schools within the northwest
whereas the non-gay people were from 7 schools. A list of
the 34 schools represented can been seen below.
| School |
Town |
County |
Lesbian,
gay or bisexual respondents |
Heterosexual
respondents |
| Convent
of Mercy, |
Buncrana |
Donegal |
1
man |
|
| P.C.C.
|
Falcarragh |
Donegal |
1
woman |
|
| Loreto
Convent, |
Letterkenny |
Donegal |
1
woman |
|
| St.
Eunan's College, |
Letterkenny |
Donegal |
1
man |
|
| Royal
& Prior Comprehensive, |
Raphoe |
Donegal |
1
man |
|
| St.
Columba's College, |
Stranorlar |
Donegal |
1
man |
|
| St
Patrick's & St Brigid's, |
Claudy |
Londonderry |
2
men |
|
| Academical
Institution |
Coleraine |
Londonderry |
2
men |
|
| Coleraine
Boys’ Secondary |
Coleraine |
Londonderry |
1
man |
|
| Clondermot
High |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
woman |
|
| Faughan
Valley High, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
2
women |
|
| Foyle
& Londonderry College |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
man |
1
woman |
| St.
Brecan's high School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
man |
|
| St.
Brigid's High School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
man |
|
| St.
Cecilia's High School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
2
women |
|
| St.
Columb's College, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
2
men |
|
| St.
Joseph's Secondary, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
3
men |
|
| St.
Mary’s High School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
woman |
1
woman |
| St.
Peter’s High School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
3
men |
|
| Templemore
Secondary School, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
1
woman |
|
| Thornhill
College, |
Derry |
Londonderry |
2
women |
|
| St.
Patrick’s, |
Dungiven |
Londonderry |
2
men |
|
| Limavady
Grammar School |
Limavady |
Londonderry |
|
1
woman |
| Limavady
High School |
Limavady |
Londonderry |
1
man |
|
| St.
Mary’s High School, |
Limavady |
Londonderry |
2
men |
|
| Our
Lady’s High School, |
Cookstown |
Tyrone |
1
woman |
|
| Christian
Brothers’ School, |
Omagh |
Tyrone |
2
men |
|
| St.
Patrick’s High School, |
Omagh |
Tyrone |
2
men |
|
| St.
Joseph’s High School |
Plumbridge |
Tyrone |
1
man |
|
| Our
Lady of Mercy High, |
Strabane
|
Tyrone |
|
1
woman |
| St.
Colman’s High School, |
Strabane |
Tyrone |
1
man |
6
men |
| Convent
Grammar School |
Strabane
|
Tyrone |
|
1
woman |
| Strabane
Grammar School, |
Strabane |
Tyrone |
2
men |
2
men |
| Strabane
High School |
Strabane |
Tyrone |
1
woman 1 man |
|
| No
response |
|
|
|
1
man |
Although each respondent identified
their school the author undertook not to relate individual
responses with specific schools unless the respondents
specifically mentioned the school later so there is no indication
in the report of which respondent attended which school.
The age range of the respondents
The respondents were only surveyed
if they were 26 or under so they had all attended school within
the last ten years.
This table shows the distribution of
ages. There is one lesbian and one heterosexual woman who
appear to be a little older but the author believes they were in
the correct age range and made a mistake when recording the year
of their GCSE.
Year of sitting GCSE/ Junior certs |
Approx age in 1998 |
Lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents of that age |
Heterosexual respondents of that age |
1986 |
28 |
L3, |
|
1987 |
27 |
|
F4, |
1988 |
26 |
G4,
G9, G29, |
|
1989 |
25 |
G2,
G10, G16, G19, |
|
1990 |
24 |
G6,
G22, G23, G26, G30, |
|
1991 |
23 |
L4,
L6, L10, G5, G18, |
M8, |
1992 |
22 |
L7,
G21, |
|
1993 |
21 |
L5,
L8, G11, G13, G20, |
M3,
M4, M5, M6, M7, F2, F5, |
1994 |
20 |
G17,
G24, |
M2,
F3, |
1995 |
19 |
L9,
L10, G1, G3, G7, G8, G14, G15, G26, G28, G32, G33 |
F1, |
1996 |
18 |
L1,
L2, G25, G31, |
M9, |
1997 |
17 |
G12, |
|
2000 |
14 |
L12*
(completed the survey in May '99 at the age of 15) |
|
The sexuality of the respondents
This was very difficult to
determine. A question asked them to match their sexuality
against a number descriptors which ranged from 100% homosexual to
100% heterosexual.
Their replies were scored as 9 for 100%
gay through 5 for bisexual to 1 for 100% heterosexual. The
results of this question are in the table below.
Sexuality |
Women |
Men |
Codes of those thus
identifying |
100% gay |
4 |
22 |
G1,
G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G9, G10, G11, G12, G13, G15, G16,
G17, G18, G19, G24, G25, G26, G28, G29, G30, G33, L5, L7,
L9, L10, L12 |
Predominantly gay |
4 |
4 |
G2,
G14, G21, G22, L2, L3, L6, L8 |
Bisexual |
2 |
5 |
G31,
G8, G27, G23, G32, M9, L4, F2 |
Predominantly straight |
0 |
1 |
M1 |
100% straight |
4 |
7 |
M2,
M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, F1, F3, F4, F5, |
It is interesting to note that although
M9 and F2 self-identified as heterosexual their responses to this
question would suggest that they are bisexual.
Sexuality
is neither uniform nor fixed.
Sexuality
differs from person to person and for each person, from time to
time.
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