The Equality Act 2010 places a legal duty on all public bodies, including local authorities and schools, to take steps to eradicate discrimination, advance equality and foster good relations. They have to take a proactive role in tackling homophobic bullying and protect those who might be experiencing it.
Despite this, we do know that there is still much to do to improve the experience of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans young people. Three easy things that could be done in your school:
- Ensure that your school has a policy that specifically talks about tackling homophobic bullying
- Suggest our discussion based workshops for young people that explore LGBT issues and signpost young people to organisations that can help
- Suggest our training opportunities for staff within the school.
In the USA, Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) are very popular among high school students. A GSA is a student-run club, typically in a high school or middle school, which provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and work to end homophobia and transphobia.
The GSA Network suggests these easy ten steps to starting a GSA in a school:
There are not many examples of GSA’s in the UK. We would suggest you calling your group a “Human Rights” group, following the legal framework set out in the UK – the Equality Act 2010. This group should establish itself using the 10 steps suggested above and then seek to improve the lives of all students by challenging all forms of discrimination and prejudice and promoting fairness. Use the significant dates in the LGBT calendar to develop projects that specifically challenge homo/bi/transphobia.