The results of a survey conducted by a research team led by by Yasuharu Hidaka, a professor of social medicine at Takarazuka University's nursing school and supported by the health ministry have been released.

Around 20,000 gay and bisexual males between the ages of 11 and 71 took the survey online last year.

Of the 1,096 responses from teenagers, 44 percent said they have experienced bullying. About 23 percent became truant, while 18 percent resorted to self-mutilation.

The number of people who had never learned about homosexuality at school had dropped from a 2005 survey (63 percent down to 41 percent).

Conversely, those who learned negative information about homosexuality increased from 23 percent in 2005 to 30 percent in this survey.

"It is difficult for children who are sexual minorities to signal an SOS because they are unsure who they can trust enough to talk to," Hidaka told Asahi Shimbum.