Madam, - Seamus O'Callaghan's letter of December 2nd about the booklet for secondary schools on sexual orientation is ill-informed and prejudiced. The booklet gives information about how to deal with being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), dispels common myths about being LGBT, and gives telephone numbers for further information on any such issues. The booklet is aimed at all second-level students and not just those in the 12- to 13-year-old group, as Mr O'Callaghan seems to suggest.
What both the report in your edition of November 27th and the booklet itself say is that "the average age for a young man to realise that he is LGBT is 12, while for young women it is 13". This is based on a study conducted in Northern Ireland and is in line with my own experience: I was 13 when I began to question my sexual orientation.
Mr O'Callaghan does not seem to understand the difference between sexual orientation, whether you are LGBT or heterosexual, and sexual activity. The fact that a 12- to 13-year-old is questioning his or her sexual orientation does not mean he or she is engaging in any sort of sexual activity - homosexual or heterosexual. Nor does the booklet mention sexual activity.
As somebody who had a fairly miserable time in secondary school - in no small part because I was unable to come to terms with my sexual orientation - I think this booklet provides invaluable information for young people. Perhaps Mr O'Callaghan should have picked up a copy and read it before he started going on about his "constitutional rights" and "moral values". - Yours, etc.,
LYDIA BIGLEY,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.