Actor Colin Farrell has backed an
anti-gay bullying campaign in Ireland.
The 35-year-old Irish-born Farrell
released a statement saying he wished for an end to the “appalling
brutality that plagues our schools.”
“If there was one great wish I have
for my country – for the land that I love and a people I so revere,
it would be that school bullying were a thing of our past.”
Farrell, whose brother, Eamon, was
bullied because he's gay, has endorsed the
Stand Up! campaign, which aims to end homophobia in schools.
“In effect, bullying is no less than
the systematic doling out of pain upon the innocent,” Farrell
wrote.
“Whether it be the attacking of gay
students, which I witnessed first hand happening to my own brother,
or students who are in the minority as a result of race or religious
beliefs or any other such characteristics that separates them from
'the norm,' it is all wrong and has no place in a just and
compassionate country such as I know Ireland to be. We have always
been praised as being the friendliest and most welcoming race in the
world. My wish is for us to prove it daily, in the school yards and
playgrounds across this Great Land of Ours.”