When I relay these experiences now, I find that non-LGBTQ+ people assume this bullying took the form of name-calling (homophobic slurs like ‘queer’, ‘batty boy’ or ‘faggot’) and, sometimes, being physically intimidated or even assaulted. What people tend not to realize as instinctively was how sexualized some of this harassment was. If I was gay, the assumption was that I must be sex-mad: I was publicly taunted and humiliated by being graphically told how much I wanted anal sex, or to ‘suck my cock’ by boys a few years older than me.
