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

supposed to know about these things fucking up like crazy. Social cohesion not really
knowing, um I mean it, it’s a mess.
AM: Yep.
SS: So although we’ve got all this legislation and when I teach teachers about the
legislation you know there’s a whole [//] list as long as ya bleeding arm…
AM: {yeah, it’s piled up on my desk currently!}
SS: …which will, yes, which can support the work we are doing, but when push comes to
shove like this case everybody’s pussy footing around, no-body knows quite what to do.
And I think in this particular case what was frightening was and we’ve seen it in other
places, the assumption that religion can trump LGBT and I think one of the things that I
am livid about is ECHR did fuck all.
AM: Yep.
SS: And it seems to me that if the ECHR is going to of any use to us, here was a prime
example where the need to take ownership of that situation go in and educate people
around what the legislation was and enable people to do that and they did not at all [//]
and I have every intention of challenging them about that.
AM: Good.
SS: Because I think that is there job it seems to me but every time you meet any worker
from the ECHR they all say oh its early days yet we don’t really know what we are doing,
we haven’t got enough resources. I just think fuck off, your job is to fight for our
equalities and if you are not doing it then who the hell is.
AM: Yeah.
SS: So, I think I think the legislation is crucial, the guidance is useful, but the DCSF
guidance’s appeared to get lost so for instance after Section 28 in 2000 the DCSF
produced a very useful piece of guidance which made it abundantly clear that all schools
should be you know not advice, but was saying had to tackle homophobia, had to take
LGBT issues seriously all things. Whenever I do inset training and show this to to
teachers, it’s the first time they’ve every seen it.
AM: Yep.
SS: So although it’s there it seems to me that we have not yet learnt how to communicate
skill up and give teachers that information and it seems to me that we have not learnt how
to train our teachers. I mean I appalled that teachers can go into a classroom knowing
nothing about equality and diversity, knowing nothing about child development and
being given no training about how to use their voice…
AM: {yeah}