‘BEING LGBT IN SCHOOL’

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It allows students who do not want to be
identified to report bullying behaviour
that they witness or experience.
It allows the school authorities to be
made aware of a situation, which they
can then monitor closely.
Staff are made aware of ‘hot spots’
and ‘hot times’ where behaviour can
be monitored and supervised more
closely, and targeted education and
prevention strategies employed to
address future bullying.
Staff have information to start
investigations into specific
bullying situations.
5.2.6 Responding to reported incidents of
homophobic and transphobic bullying
Having investigated a report of bullying,
the relevant teacher uses his/her professional
judgement to determine whether bullying
has occurred and how best the situation
can be resolved.
The Department of Education and Skills
outlines in detail the procedures for
investigating and dealing with bullying
in Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and
Post-Primary Schools (2013, page 30). When
bullying is homophobic or transphobic the
following approaches will be useful for a
school to pursue:
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Good Practice in responding to
reports of homophobic or transphobic
bullying
In communicating the school’s antibullying
policy to the school community
all students should be encouraged to
report bullying behaviour as a means
of improving the school community
for everyone. If students know that the
school understands that homophobic and
transphobic bullying can be experienced
by people who are not LGBT they may be
less afraid of being labelled LGBT. The
school needs to communicate that,
while being LGBT is perfectly normal
and accepted, sometimes people can
fear being judged for being different or
being perceived to be different.
Don’t assume that a person who
reports homophobic or transphobic
bullying is LGBT.
The bullying behaviour, and the impact of
that behaviour, should be the focus of the
investigation and not whether the student
concerned is LGBT or not.
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Sensitivity should be applied in relation
to the involvement of parents/guardians
in the case of a young person who has
experienced homophobic or transphobic
bullying. For example, a young person
who is LGBT may not have come out to
his/her parents/guardians and may feel
very vulnerable when parents/guardians
become involved. It should be emphasised
that anyone can be targeted with this
type of bullying. In dealing with specific
instances of homophobic or transphobic
bullying the focus should be on the
actual bullying behaviour and the impact
on the students, not on whether or not
the student is LGBT. Follow-up work
can be done with the wider year group
more generally to address prejudice and
discrimination against LGBT people.
A student who reports homophobic or
transphobic bullying should be asked if
they would like support. If one-to-one
support is not available within the school,
external support through organisations
such as BeLonG To Youth Services and
TENI can be sought (see section 8).
A Resource for Post-Primary Schools to Prevent Homophobic and Transphobic Bullying and Support LGBT Students
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