Non-Normative Gender and Sexual Identities in Schools: - Schools Out

AM: Ok, the next question is about Section 28, which I think we’ve pretty much covered
unless there’s anything else you would like to add about what the legacies have been and
perhaps ideas of how we might combat these legacies?
CG: I think you know like I said before it’s stigmatised the gay community for such a
long time that it’s left a legacy of homophobia and homophobic bullying um and slowly
but surely we are seeing a way out of that I mean schools are starting to put this on their
agenda. You know the Government has made it very clear, you know we’ve started to
deal with racist incidents, we’ve now got to deal with homophobic incidents as well, um
so no I don’t think there’s anything else to add in that sense.
AM: Great, to draw to a close then um is there anything else you would like to talk about
in relation to the issues covered or any questions that you have about my work?
CG: Um, I don’t think so. I mean like I said at the beginning it’s very important that you
have the legislative framework, you have the polices in place, but then you also have that
understanding within schools as well that, you know the teachers have the resources that
they need, they are supported as they need to be and that you do, something that we
always emphasise is what we call the whole school ethos, so everybody within your
whole school community has got to support this, down to your dinner ladies and your
caretakers you know to your PTA and your school governors board. Um and um
leadership from the top. So if your school, if your local authority and your school
governors and your senior management team which includes your head teacher don’t
have this on their agenda then it’s very difficult to filter that down. Um so it’s you know
everybody has to embrace this, it shouldn’t be just the gay teacher who is doing this, um
it shouldn’t just be the young person who’s being homophobically bullied who is trying
to deal with this, is should be the whole school community. Um and that’s something we
very much talk about in all of the work that we do.
AM: Brilliant, thank you very much.