Mother Of Michael Causer Gives Support To Play Challenging Homophobic Bullying In Schools

Marie Causer, the mother of Michael Causer, a gay man who was beaten to death at a party on Merseyside is helping promote a new play aimed at educating and tackling homophobia.

Whilst Michael’s murder was deemed by the judge to not be homophobic, Marie believes that it is crucial people learn and accept the fact that others around them should have the choice to live their lives as choose to, stating:

“It has a lot to do with education. We need to get into the schools and instil in people at an early age that homophobia will not be tolerated.”

The play entitled FIT is being put on as a joint venture between the arts group Homotopia, Healthy Schools & Liverpool City Council, Knowsley Housing Trust, Riverside Housing, Its Not Ok & The Anti-bullying forum, City Safe,and Merseyside Police, and acts to explore the issue of homophobic bullying. Supported by Knowsley Housing Trust, Mark McQueen Foundation, IBIS Hotels and Riverside Housing, the play will tour the county and be performed to at least 5000 pupils.

Bob Taylor, the chief executive of the Knowsley Housing Trust said he believed homophobia was a major issue that needed dealing with and hoped the play would do just that saying:

“We hope that bringing this play to Merseyside will highlight the issues that young people face when confronted with homophobic behaviour …. There is no place for homophobia in our society and we are committed to doing all we can to stamp it out.”

Written by Rikki Beadle Blair, FIT has also recently been made into a feature film by gay rights charity Stonewall who are distributing the film through schools nationwide.