Write to the Education Secretary in defence of LGBT inclusion in schools

As you may have seen or heard via the media this year, a number of schools in England have been attacked locally for promoting acceptance towards LGBT people. In some cases schools have faced intense campaigns.

Another issue (which has passed largely under the radar) is that rather than helpfully defend LGBT inclusivity when it is sorely needed, the Government has instead been facilitating schools that are disinclined to teach about LGBT people. This includes via new relationships education guidance, which does not require primary schools to even mention LGBT people, and new independent school standards guidance that has been diluted.

For example, an earlier draft of the guidance last March expected independent secondary school age pupils to know about the protected characteristics listed under the Equality Act (which include sexual orientation and gender reassignment) and encouraged that independent primary school age pupils be taught about how people are different on these grounds. The final guidance released this April removed these references. Ofsted has recently been taking a firmer line with independent faith schools that ignore LGBT content and so the new guidance undermines this work.

We are therefore seeking to increase pressure on the Government to offer greater support for schools in upholding LGBT inclusivity. Below is a template letter which you can send to the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, to express your discontent. The template letter can be amended in any way you wish. Do consider adding any personal perspectives. These could be based on your hopes and anxieties and of your own direct experiences of the issues at hand or/and those of people close to you. The more of us who write to the Education Secretary the better.

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Dear Secretary of State, I am writing to express my concern at the lack of Government support for schools undertaking their legal duties under the Equality Act to promote equality and acceptance between people of different protected characteristics. I urge that robust backing be given in this vital area. I am particularly concerned at the problems some schools and teachers are currently experiencing regarding the promotion of LGBT inclusion.
This is currently highlighted by the nature and extent of the organised opposition to some schools' provision of the 'No Outsiders' programme. The programme advances inclusion on a variety of grounds, but its provision has triggered orchestrated opposition (inflamed and exploited by outside groups) for simply seeking to teach that LGBT people exist and that acceptance of them should be encouraged. Opportunities to provide these and others schools with greater support have been missed and Government guidance has been weakly ambiguous at best. For example, recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education-faqs">advice</a> regarding Relationships and Sex Education (which will become compulsory in all schools in 2020) states that schools are "enabled and encouraged to cover LGBT content [but] if they consider it age appropriate to do so". The phrase “age appropriate” is open to wide interpretation, and is repeated in new <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/798511/Independent_School_Standards-_Guidance.pdf">guidance</a> for independent schools on meeting their obligation to promote respect between people of different protected characteristics. Statements such as these, combined with half-hearted support for schools that are being attacked, has left many teachers exposed. Requirements for schools to promote inclusion and acceptance between people of different characteristics is a vital part of our society's equality and human rights framework. An attack on this framework is ultimately an attack on us all. Schools should be entitled to expect and urgently require greater moral and regulatory support in advancing these duties, which help them better forge a society in which all may fully contribute.

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Write to the Education Secretary in defence of LGBT inclusion in schools

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