GAY activists have welcomed anti-homophobia remarks made by President Mary McAleese at an all-male school in Londonderry last week. Reported attacks on gays in the city have trebled over the past year.

The president, who was attending 125th anniversary celebrations at St Columb’s College, denounced homophobia several times in her address.

She said: “Those citizens of tomorrow . . . what do they say when their friends make sexist, racist, sectarian or homophobic jibes — do they stay silent and let the poison of contempt go on its cruel way, or do they have the guts to stop it in its tracks and say such words are unacceptable and dangerous?

“Do they have the backbone and the conviction to lead their friends in the right direction even if it seems the loneliest place in the world?”

The city’s Rainbow Project, which provides support for gay and bisexual men, described the speech as “an important intervention” following a spate of newspaper headlines labelling Derry as the gay-bashing “capital” of Northern Ireland.

Sean Morrin, the project director, said: “It’s highly significant she made her remarks in Derry and in a school. Homophobia is endemic even among the very young — the most common term of abuse in any playground is ‘faggot’.”

Morrin, one of Derry’s most prominent gay activists, doesn’t believe the city is worse than other areas and he attributes the increase in the number of reported assaults to a higher level of confidence among gays in registering complaints.

The police agree. The PSNI, which drew up an anti-homophobic protocol for the city last year, agrees that there is more of a willingness among victims to come forward.

“Before this, incidents might not have been reported specifically as homophobic hate crime,” said Inspector Milton Kerr.

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