BLACK, WHITE, DUAL HERITAGE,

DAUGHTERS, SONS,

AUNTS, MOTHERS, SISTERS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, UNCLES, NEPHEWS, NIECES,

FRIENDS,

COLLEAGUES, WORKERS, NON-WAGED,

STUDENTS, TEACHERS,

CUSTOMERS, DIFFERENTLY-ABLED,

JEWISH, HINDU, SIKH, MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, GENTILE,

OF ALL RELIGIONS AND NONE,

OLD AND YOUNG,

WOMEN AND MEN,

AND FROM

EVERY POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE.

©Schools OUT Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexual and Trans People are:

IS A SET OF ASSUMPTIONS AND PRACTICES THAT PROMOTES HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS AS THE ONLY ’NATURAL’ AND VALID FORM OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

HETEROSEXISM RECOGNISES/REWARDS THOSE WHO ARE HETEROSEXUAL AND IGNORES/PENALISES THOSE WHO ARE NOT.

©Schools OUT!

HETEROSEXISM

Heternormativity

Assumes that everyone is white, able bodied, young, middle class, heterosexual, male and Christian. Most barriers that affect/disadvantage, people on the grounds of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, age, religion and belief, class and disability, are created by oppressive social systems.

 This is however not always recognised and society blames the person they see as not ‘normal’.

Medical Model

The emphasis is on dependence, backed up by the stereotypes of difference that call forth pity, fear and patronising attitudes. Usually the focus is on the “impairment”, such as their age, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or disability, rather than the needs of the person. The power to change us seems to lie within the medical and associated professions, with their talk of cures, normalisation and science. Often our lives are handed over to them

Medical Model

Disability and “fault” is on the individual person affected.

You are sufferer, you are the problem, your difference needs curing by professionals

Ie: you suffer because your condition puts you in a wheelchair and therefore you have less easy access to school

The Social Model

Approach to difference/impairment sees the problem as society’s barriers, rather than the person’s condition, thereby allowing people perceived as different or impaired to lift the blame from their shoulders and place it squarely onto society’s.

The social model empowers people to challenge society to remove those barriers.

The 9 Protected Strands that the Equality Act now identifies

Disability Race/ethnicity Sexual Orientation Religion and Belief Age Gender Gender Identity Maternity /pregnancy Marriage and civil partnerships

A Homophobic incident is..

Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic by the victim or another person.

That is directed to impact upon those known or perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans people.

©Schools OUT!

Have You Heard Young People Say?

“That’s so gay” about something they see as broken or they dislike or think is stupid

“You’re Gay” to another young person who is seen as doing something different, or is perceived as different as a put-down?

“Poof, Bent, Batty Boy, Faggot Queer, Pansy, Lessie, Lemon, Dyke,”

Homophobia in SchoolsSchool Report Stonewall 2007

Sixty five per cent of lesbian and gay pupils have experienced homophobic bullying.

Of those, 92 per cent (143,000) have experienced verbal homophobic bullying, 41 per cent (64,000) physical bullying and 17 per cent (26,000) death threats.

97 per cent of gay pupils hear derogatory phrases such as 'dyke', 'queer' and 'rug-muncher' used in school.

Half of teachers fail to respond to homophobic language when they hear it.

Thirty per cent of lesbian and gay pupils say that adults - teachers or support staff - are responsible for homophobic incidents in their schoolLess than a quarter of schools have told pupils that homophobic bullying is wrong.

Gay and lesbian people 55%

People from ethnic minorities 47%

Refugees/asylum 44%

People who overweight or obese 32%

physically disabled 22%

Travellers/gypsies 20%

Profiles of Prejudice 2003 Stonewall and Mori PollWho is most likely to experience prejudice and

discrimination in England? young people views 15-24

-

The Costs of Homophobia

Alcohol and drug misuse; blocking out the pain

Truancy as students seek to escape from the persecution

Giving up on academic achievement as students find they are unable to work effectively in such an environment;

Suffering from emotional, mental and/or physical health conditions, such as eating disorders, as a result of the anxiety and eroded self esteem;

Promiscuous sexual practices leading to early pregnancies due to confusion and internalised homophobia

Homeless/Running away from home, when parents are very hostile to young lesbian and gay children some feel forced to leave home and move into dangerous accommodation and become homeless.

The Lesbian and Gay Teenage projectconducted a piece of research, which

found that

one in five of lesbian and gay teenagers had attempted suicide.

©Schools OUT!

What effect does this have on our young people?

YOUNG LESBIANS1990 Lesbian Information Service Research Of 20 Respondents In East Lancashire

85% had experienced depression;

70% had attempted suicide;

55% had abused themselves in other ways, e.g. cutting;

50% had a serious alcohol problem;

50% had used illegal drugs;

55% had been homeless and

50% had been sexually abused or raped.

Trans People

73% of respondents experienced harassment 47% of trans people do not use public social leisure facilities for fear of

discriminatory treatment 64% of young trans men 44% of young trans women experience harassment

and bullying at school from both pupils and school staff Many trans people leave school early, but 34% obtain a degree or higher

degree 45% of respondents reported family breakdown due to their cross gender

identity 37% are excluded from family events and have family members who no

longer speak to them because they have transitioned to their acquired gender,

20% of respondents felt informally excluded from their local community and neighbourhood since their transition.

www.pfc.org.uk/files/EngenderedPenalties.pdf

GALOP

Uneven Vulnerability

Black, Asian, Disabled and younger respondents were all more likely to experience

homophobic violence

50% of disabled respondents, 48% of younger respondents, 45% of Black respondents and 40% of Asian respondents had experienced homophobic violence compared with 32%

overall

No children in the household 22% not comfortable21% no opinion57% comfortable

Children in the household17% not comfortable10% no opinion73% comfortable

Profiles of Prejudice 2003Stonewall and Mori Poll

How comfortable or uncomfortable would you feel if your teacher, or the teacher of a close

relative, were gay or lesbian (by family status)

Section 28

REPEALED

Schools OUT!

Legislation to support the work in schools addressing LGBT issues

United Nations Rights of the Child (1990) Learning and Skills Act 2000 and the Sex and Relationships Guidance 2000 and

2004 Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000) Equal Age of Consent 2001 Bullying: Don’t Suffer in Silence (DfES, 2002) Children Act (1989, 2002, 2004) Sexual Orientation, and Religion and Belief Discrimination Regulations (2003) Ofsted inspectors will use the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (DfES, 2004) Civil Partnership Act 2004 Gender Recognition Bill (2004) Disability Equality Duty (2006) Gender Equality Duty (2007) Goods and Services Provision (2007) DCSF guidance on homophobia (2007) Social Cohesion Duty September 2007 Single equality act 2010

TO BE PROVIDED WITH A SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION AND PREJUDICE;

THAT WE CAN COME TO YOU IN CONFIDENCE AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THAT ’COMING OUT’ IS BOTH IMPORTANT AND POSITIVE;

THAT WE WILL BE SUPPORTED IF WE CHOOSE TO ‘COME OUT’;

THAT YOU WILL ACTIVELY CHALLENGE HOMO/TRANSPHOBIA WHERE IT OCCURS;

THAT WE AND OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE CAN SEE AND HEAR POSITIVE IMAGES AND HEAR POSITIVE MESSAGES ABOUT LESBIAN GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANS PEOPLE;

TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND HAVE OUR NEEDS MET IN SOCIETY.

WHAT YOUNG LGBT PEOPLE WANT:

LGBT Teachers survey 2005 Summary of findings from the Teacher Support Network and TES

Sixty per cent of respondents have experienced harassment or discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The biggest perpetrators were pupils, followed by colleagues, managers and pupils’ parents.

Only a quarter of schools had a code of conduct on homophobic/biphobic/transphobic behaviour but in 65 per cent of cases, the policy was not properly enforced.

The impact of this kind of harassment is potentially devastating. Of those who completed the survey, 50 had become stressed or ill, 24 were afraid to go into work and 14 teachers resigned, all as a direct result of their experiences in school.

LIVING TOGETHER British Attitudes to Lesbian and Gay people 2006

Nine out of ten people want homophobic bullying in schools to be tackled. More than 4 out of 5 people, including 'people of faith', are in favour of LGB

people being protected from discrimination in areas including health care and social services.

Almost 17 million adults (36 per cent) say there was homophobic bullying in their school.

Two-thirds of people say that the cause of homophobia is a general lack of acceptance by institutions and organisations such as workplaces and schools.

They also think that religious and parental attitudes have a negative impact, as do tabloid newspapers and the media in general.

People believe that schools and the media have the greatest responsibility to address homophobia – more than parents, government and the police.

Almost all people want homophobia in schools tackled. This includes the vast majority of parents of children aged 18 and under,

and 91% of all religious people

Every Child Matters

Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being

Every Child Matters

Working to address heteronormativity and tackle Homophobic/Transphobic

bullying will help us to meet our obligations

For where homophobia/transphobia exists

the five outcomes

are impossible

20 Things A School Can Do To Tackle Homophobia/TransphobiaAnd Create Safer Spaces

1)   Define and include ‘homophobic/transphobic bullying’ in the anti- bullying policy. 

2)   Provide training on recognising and dealing effectively with homophobic/ transphobic abuse and bullying to be made available to all staff.  (Note that in Ian Rivers’ research, he found that much of the abuse and bullying took place in situations where teachers are not usually present.)

3)Provide positive images of lesbian, gay bisexual and trans people along-side those of other individuals and community groups, acknowledging the sexual orientation of famous and successful lesbians, gay bisexual and trans people both past and present.  This should happen in the same way as ensuring work presented to pupils includes positive images of black, minority ethnic people, women, religious people and people with disabilities, etc.

4 Provide positive images of lesbian, gay bisexual and trans people along-side those of other individuals and community groups, acknowledging the sexuality of famous and successful lesbians, gay bisexual and trans people both past and present.  The work needs to be placed in a wider context where LGBT people are seen as citizens and participants in a wide range of activities both past and present. This should happen in the same way as ensuring work presented to pupils includes positive images of black, minority ethnic people, women and people with disabilities, etc

  5)   Develop the curriculum to include LGBT experience, both in celebration and in looking at issues of equality and oppression.  Examples are:

inclusions of oppression of gays and lesbians when looking at the Holocaust in history;

inclusion of a range of sexualities and gender identity in sex education;

exploring issue based drama and utilising many novels and poems dealing with the subject in English. 

6)   Regularly review the covert culture, i.e., language and images used in all school communications be they written or spoken, choice of uniform, names of forms, houses etc. to reflect an anti-heterosexist culture.

7)  Schools and Local Authorities enable the setting up of interest groups for LGBT people so they can support each other and make recommendations. 

8)  Local Authorities and schools to review their policies and practices so that they support and enable staff to ‘come out’ if they so wish.

9)  Develop models of good practice and support and apply them to particular situations, be they classroom, corridor, canteen, youth club, career guidance, counselling room, hospital etc.

10) Regularly update advertising such as posters for appropriate local LGBT clubs and events.  Continuously display the LGBT switchboards numbers, both local and national.

11) Fast and effective removal of offensive graffiti.

12) School assemblies need to reflect lesbian, gay men bisexual and trans people’s anniversaries like Stonewall and now tragically the Soho Bombing as well as birthdays of famous lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

13) Behaviour guidelines and structures regularly debated and agreed and owned by students, in order to help students and staff to implement them, i.e., election of student safety officers.

14)A designated person who young people know they can talk to about these issues in confidence.  (This is in addition to their form/year tutor, not in instead of.)

15) Design school social events and invitations so that they are welcoming to all partners of staff and parents. 

16) Support young LGBT people who wish to come out, and help them link up with other young lesbians and gay men and trans people.

17)Develop the sex education curriculum so that it does not only cover reproduction and disease.  Sex needs to be taught in a way that young people can relate to.  It is vital that a range of sexual orientations is discussed in a positive manner as well as gender identity.

18 Every class has its own seating plan that changes regularly so everyone knows where they sit, so cliques are not enabled and everyone gets a chance to sit with everyone.

19) In everything you say, do or write,  Know that everyone is unique and that

we can be lesbian,gay, bisexual or heterosexual!

RESOURES

PRIMARY RESOURCES ON BOTH WEBSITES AND NO OUTSIDERS

Gays the word bookshop

www.gaystheword.co.uk

Has all the books recommended

wwwschools-out.org.uk/classroom

New site which is a one stop shop for LGBT resources all key stages

Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual PeopleRickkie Beadle Blair (Playwright, broadcaster)Will Young (pop star)Lord Waheed Alli (television entrepreneur and peer) Bayard Rustin (Mr March Martin Luther Kings’ right hand Man)Lionel Blue (rabbi, writer broadcaster)Edward 11 (King) Cyril Nri (actor Superintendent Adam Okara of the ‘Bill’)Elton John (musician and composer)Alan Turing (mathematician)Leonardo Da Vinci (artist) Sir Ian McKellen (Film TV Theatre Actor)Miranda Barry (1795 -1865 first woman Doctor dressed as

man army surgeon Clare Balding (tv sports presenter)Martina Navratilova (record breaking tennis player)Florence Nightingale (pioneer nurse)Linda Bellos (ex Lambeth Council leader, activist

grandmother)Sappho (poet)Frieda Kahlo (Mexican Painter)Jackie Kay (writer, poet)Pam St Clements (actor)Alex Parks (UK Pop Singer)

Level 1 – AntilocutionVerbal Abuse, Using derogatory language, Name calling & stereotyping.

Level 3 – DiscriminationUsing any power to hand to control who gets

what. E.g Excluding people from jobs Education and/or

housingLevel 2 – Avoidance.

Withdrawal, Avoiding contact, Making people Invisible

Level 5Genocide Murder, Suicide

Level 4 – Physical AttackGraffiti, Property Damage,Harassment,

Physical bullying, Rape

School’s Out! National.(Working for Lesbian, gay Bisexual and Transgender equality in Education)

BM School’s Out National. London WC1N 3XX Email. Secretary@schools-out.org.uk www.schools-out.org.uk Has on it

– Teachers Pack– Legislation that enables staff to deal with LGBT

issues and tackle homophobia– Model equal Opportunity Policy– Anti Bullying Policy– Student Tool Kit– Classroom -one stop shop for all LGBT resources

FEBRUARY 2011 IS LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS HISTORY MONTH

WE ARE SPORT FOCUSED FOR THE NEXT 2 YEARS

WWW.LGBTHISTORYMONTH.ORG.UK

LGBT History Month websitewww.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk

Includes Tool Kit on how to celebrate LGBT HM with

young people in educational settings Anniversaries of LGBT People 09 Calendar of national events Information on LGBT people Time Lines and much much more