Lady Gaga tops poll of celebrities “doing most to tackle bullying”
Lady Gaga has topped an online poll by charity Stonewall, who asked supporters who they thought had done the most to tackle bullying this year.
The bisexual pop star came in first ahead of Ben Cohen, Nicola Roberts and Cher Lloyd.
Lady Gaga, who was voted for by 46% of polled supporters, recently announced the launch of the Born This Way Foundation which will support bullied youth.
Of the foundation, she said: “Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment.”
She added that the foundation will work towards “youth empowerment and equality by addressing issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and will utilise digital mobilisation as one of the means to create positive change.”
Lady Gaga’s also poll victory follows on from her nomination for Hero of the Year at the 2011 Stonewall Awards.
Retired rugby player Ben Cohen, also a Stonewall Award nominee, scored a close second with 41% of the vote for his dedication in tackling bullying and homophobia in sport.
Cohen set up the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying.
Laura Doughty, Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive said: ‘It’s fantastic that so many influential people and celebrities are helping to tackle and, as the poll shows, raise awareness of this important issue.
“Nine in ten secondary school teachers recently polled by YouGov for Stonewall said that children and young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, currently experience homophobic bullying in their schools.”
Nicola Roberts scored 9% of the vote followed by Cher Lloyd with 4%. Both spoke out against bullying recently, with Lloyd having received death threats on Twitter.
Stonewall ran the social media poll on Facebook and Twitter in the run up to Anti-Bullying Week.
