Gays assaulted because of their sexuality - survey
By LEANNE BELL
Almost a fifth of gay men and many lesbians have been physically assaulted because of their sexuality, a new Massey University survey says.


The Lavender Islands survey, the most extensive survey of gays and lesbians ever carried out in New Zealand, found 18.2 per cent of the men who responded and 9.2 per cent of the women had been physically assaulted because of their sexuality.

Three-quarters of the men and two-thirds of the women had been verbally assaulted for the same reason.

The preliminary findings of the survey of 2276 people also revealed that almost 59 per cent had been "outed" by someone without their permission.

The project leader and senior lecturer in social work for Massey University's Albany campus, Mark Henrickson, said the findings highlighted human rights issues and he planned to carry out more research on the subject.