A Labour MP has revealed that he was left needing facial reconstruction surgery as a teen after an anti-gay attack.
Chris Elmore, the Labour MP for Ogmore, made the revelation in Parliament during a debate about Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools.
The politician, who is heterosexual, spoke about an incident from his childhood during his speech.
He said: “The effects of sexual harassment on mental health and wellbeing are of course huge, and it leaves lasting scars on girls, as well as on some boys, when they later move into the workplace.
“Those who have committed what in my view are offences think it is acceptable in society to carry on doing so.
“I speak as someone who was never sexually assaulted in school, but I was horrifically assaulted in school to the point that I was hospitalised several times and received mental health support for what would be considered breakdowns at the ages of 14, 16 and 17.
“I know all too well the horrors of being attacked for supposedly, as it happens, being a homosexual, which I am not—and if I was, so what?
“That was the rationale for my being attacked the final time at the age of 17, when I was assaulted and hospitalised, which involved minor reconstruction to part of my face.
“I was assaulted in a friend’s home by seven school friends, based on the premise that I was—I shall keep this within parliamentary language—a gayer, and therefore deserved to be attacked as a 17-year-old boy.”
Speaking about sexual violence, he said: “Clearly, horrible and horrific issues have arisen this week, which makes it even more poignant that we are having this debate today.
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