'I was outed in Year 12 in front of teachers, who – when I then ran off and cried – told me I needed to think about my life choices.' How LGBTQ+ education still needs to improve in schools 🏳️🌈
‘Growing up queer in a rural part of Norfolk with no role models and no one talking about being LGBTQ+ was lonely. I spent most of my teenage years just wishing I was like everyone else.’
, Evie defines herself as lesbian and queer, and advocates for comprehensive LGBTQ+ education in her school and online. Some 28% of LGBTQ+ teenagers in this study judged their education on positive and equal relationships to be ‘not great’, in comparison to only 15% of straight young people asked. And almost 30% of LGBTQ+ teens say they didn’t receive any support in this area at all.
It was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, and was in effect from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland, and until 2003 in England and Wales. ‘At the point at which schools consider it appropriate to teach their pupils about LGBTQ+, they should ensure that this content is fully integrated into their programmes of study for this area of the curriculum rather than delivered as a stand-alone unit or lesson.
So although the DfE says it expects LGBTQ+ content – such as same-sex relationships and gender dysphoria – to have been taught when it is ‘timely’, it is down to schools to decide when this is appropriate and there is no specification of what this means in practice. ‘Due to a lack of mandatory curriculums and guidance over the years, it’s meant people have received really different levels of RSE,’ he explains.
He adds this has had a positive impact in some ways by making some teachers ‘more determined’ to ensure their teaching is queer inclusive, but for others there is still an ‘element of fear’ in discussing these topics. Nick warns fear from teachers also extends to parents, who were likely also educated under Section 28: ‘This means when their children come home to them [after school] they’re not always comfortable with or aware of how to approach the subject with their kids.
Nick, who is head of business development at Brook, claims ‘the world feels like it’s on fire’ for queer teens at the moment. ‘If you ask young people what they want – what is most important to them is they don’t want to open their phone and feel like they’re being attacked, or walk down the street and get beaten up for being LGBTQ+.’carried out by LGBTQ+ young people’s charity Just Like Us, of 2,934 pupils aged between 11 and 18 last year, found queer school pupils are twice as likely to have been bullied and 91% have heard negative language about being LGBTQ+.
Milly Evans, 22, is a sex educator based in Brighton who often speaks and writes about LGBTQ+ topics ‘We wouldn’t go into a primary school and start talking about sex to year four. It’s more about respect, and families and friends, and how people are different in society.To celebrate 50 years of Pride, Metro.co.uk has teamed up with Kyiv Pride to raise money for their important work in Ukraine.
‘Going through secondary school can be a challenging time for any student, and it is especially important for those who are uncertain about their identity to have a safe place to talk about the issues they might be facing,’ says the 18-year-old. Daniel, a pupil at Netherthorpe School in Derbyshire, says it is ‘important schools are making being LGBTQ+ a more normal thing’ He is currently the leader of his school’s Pride group, which he feels has ‘helped students to have a safe place to meet, discuss issues and learn about the history of LGBTQ+ and its icons’.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bale included in Real Madrid legends list despite 'Wales, Golf, Madrid' controversyGareth Bale has been paid the ultimate compliment by being added to the ‘Legends’ section of Real Madrid’s official website, despite plenty of Madridistas probably wishing he wasn…
Read more »
Unable to send Rohingyas home, Bangladesh circumscribes their livesRohingya children, who make up more than half of Cox’s Bazar's 1m residents, suffer most
Read more »
'I buried dad in a missile crater': Life and death under the siege of MariupolThe missile that landed outside 74-year-old Hryhory’s Mariupol home left a crater measuring 10 feet across and six feet deep. When he died weeks later through lack of medical aid, his son Maksym lowered his body into it and buried him there.
Read more »
Alexandra Lange explores the history of American mallsAs America’s suburbs have diversified, so have their malls. One in Texas has become a destination for Mexican cuisine; mariachi bands entertain shoppers
Read more »