Community leaders in the United Kingdom are raising concerns over the increase of harassment of youths by their peers over their stance against with same-sex marriage.

At issue are claims that children as young as 12 who do not endorse homosexuality or same-sex marriage are being labelled as "Nazis" and "bigots", according to a senior Roman Catholic official.

John Deighan, the Roman Catholic Church's parliamentary officer in Scotland, revealed that he has become aware of the disturbing trend which sees some young children being harassed by their peers over their views and beliefs related to a few specific issues.

"People are increasingly being subjected to manipulation by what I would call the equality lobby … There is a level of hostility which is building up even against very young people," said Deighan according to reports from the Christian Institute.

Deighan made his comments during a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels earlier this week which was focused on the wider issue of the treatment of churchgoers in Europe.

"I know, for example, of children in Scotland, including my own 12-year-old child, who have been branded as 'Nazis' and 'bigots' because they have dared to disagree with the idea of same-sex marriage," Deighan said.

These comments come during a turbulent time, considering the social and religious divide that has been caused by various issues, including the current state of homosexuality and the British government's attempts to legalise same-sex marriage.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg created a wave of controversy after a draft of one of his speeches called those opposed to homosexuality and same-sex marriage "bigots".

Aides for Clegg tried to correct the harm done by issuing a statement that the draft of the speech, which was given to media, was incorrect. They then made a corrected version of the speech available to the public in which the word had been removed.