A video posted to social media which allegedly shows a group of students singing homophobic taunts aimed at a boy in their school who had just come out has caused considerable anger.

A report from Dublin Live detailed the video contained a group of around ten young men from a private school in Dublin singing “for he’s a jolly good f****t” to the tune of “for he’s a jolly good fellow”, as one of the group holds a rainbow flag around himself.

It is alleged that the video was directed at a schoolmate who had recently come out as bisexual and was not a part of the gang. It is also alleged that the video was not a tongue-in-cheek way of supporting the young man, but a deliberate attack.

Dublin Live quoted a student they had interviewed, who explained, “The people behind this video are by no means friendly or friends with the boy who has just come out. The whole school is in shock over this. And it’s something that needs to be dealt with quickly.”

The quote continued, “This type of thing is such a pressing matter that tends to get overlooked in all schools with minimal effort and support being put in place to help those of the LGBTQ community.”

While Dublin Live said they had contacted the school in question about the homophobic video, the school itself remained nameless.

Discrimination and homophobic bullying in schools can have a profound effect on the emotional wellbeing of LGBTQ students and greatly impact their ability to learn. In a recent report by TENI and University of Limerick, it described how trans and gender diverse students faced barriers restricting their access to secondary level education due to discrimination and misinformation.

One participant in the report shared, “[The teachers in my previous school] wouldn’t discuss LGBT people at all, but especially not trans people.”