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

SS: Plus it also embedded it; otherwise you’re constantly relying on Champions. So I
guess you know, we’ve got to see what comes out of the single equality policy and really
monitor that and use that. Um DCSF is now moving to a single equality policy so that
means that all seven strands will be you know incorporated. And it, we did win the the
the argument that the public duty should be all seven strands, cos you know in the White
Paper it said we should only go for the three.
AM: Yeah.
SS: So clearly you know we need to grasp you know what comes out of the single
equality policy and make it effective and work, but that will then require the ECHR to
have some teeth and to be doing work not for us to be constantly reported schools to the
ECHR and saying look this isn’t happening what are you gonna do about it.
AM: Yeah.
SS: One of the things that I really took them to task about was the fact that the ECHR did
absolutely nothing in Bristol when the whole thing blew up in Bristol with the No
Outsiders project.
AM: Yeah.
SS: And I think they [//] certainly the bloke I spoke to recognised that it was not good
enough what you know the fact that basically we’re offering to chair, to be a neutral chair
and I said that is not your job to be a neutral chair and you didn’t do it anyway, um your
job actually was to get in their and start informing people about you know what the law
said and and to challenge what was going down.
AM: Yeah.
SS: Um, which he agreed with me about, but whether he was high enough to make sure
that that never happens again we don’t know. But we’ve, clearly we have to keep a
watching brief on the ECHR and make sure that they are that they do actually do the
work that they need to do.
AM: Yep. Definitely. Ok, we talked a lot in our previous interview and in this interview
so far about what’s happening in schools, possibly why it’s happening, the policy that’s
there to try and prevent it happening etc etc. However, one of the main focuses of my
research, um and I’ve talked to young people about is the actual effect of all these
experiences on the young people both in the short and long term. And obviously I’ve got
the Stonewall Report from last year and figures from research previously and obviously
the statistics are there. But I just really want to hear anything from your own experiences
of of either direct bullying or the general environment of schools the short and long term
effects on these young people.
SS: I think if you look at Ian River’s stuff that…
AM: {yep}