The journey as a member of the LGBT community can at times be difficult; we often have obstacles like bullying to deal with. As part of the #BeYourself campaign we hope to give strength to those in our community by talking about issues and highlighting amazing people within our community who give us encouragement to be ourselves.
Marcus Collins is a LGBT advocate, singer, actor and makeup and hair expert. He competed on the 8th series of the X-Factor and was a standout performer who eventually finished as the runner-up.
Marcus provided us with the Oscar Wilde quote to hopefully encourage those in the LGBT community to embrace who they are:
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Growing up Marcus experienced bullying over his sexuality and race; he was repeatedly targeted both physically and verbally by bullies. For many of us being bullied leads to feelings of undue amounts of shame, resulting in fear, embarrassment and guilt. Often we try and hide the fact we are being bullied or feel guilty when we have to explain that we were bullied.
Talking can really help overcome the shame associated with being bullied, we offer a confidential online chat service (7 days a week) where you can chat openly about any issue that you may be encountering. It’s a free and confidential service where you can chat to our trained volunteers.
Simply visit https://lgbt.ie (at any of the times below)
• Mon-Thurs: 6:30pm to 9:00pm
• Fri : 4:30pm to 9:00:pm
• Sat-Sun : 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Learn more on Marcus at the following:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Instagram: https://www.