"I firmly believe all children have a basic human right to be safe, happy and to learn in order to have a chance of fulfilling their true potential," says Shaun. Photo: Getty Images

Shaun Dellenty felt somehow ‘different’ from the age of four. Gay taunts were directed at him from an early age, escalating into serious bullying by the time he was ten. In addition to direct abuse, there were gay slurs written in public places around his town, such as fences and bus shelters. Such was Shaun’s dread about his parents discovering the truth behind the graffiti that he would sneak out with a marker pen in an attempt to erase the comments. The bullying was unrelenting, with Shaun once being egged and floured as he left a school disco. Not only did his teachers do nothing to stop this ongoing torment, but some partook in it with their homophobic language and attitudes.

Despite being failed by several educators and spiraling into depression, Shaun not only survived this adversity but went on to become an educator himself, using his experiences to inform his work, now as deputy head at London’s Alfred Salter Primary School, and as the founder of charitable organisation, Inclusion For All. Through his organisation, Shaun has worked with an array of people, from students to police, to help reduce homophobic bullying. His programme, initially based on his own experiences, is now having an impact at every level of the UK education system.

This work is important, Shaun says, because it has the potential to not only prevent human suffering, but also provide safe spaces in which young people can develop as learners, and as caring, empathetic individuals who see difference as something to get excited about, rather than be fearful of. “I firmly believe all children have a basic human right to be safe, happy and to learn in order to have a chance of fulfilling their true potential.”

Shaun emphasises that homophobic bullying can potentially affect any child of any family, having the potential to result in life-long emotional damage or in some cases self-harm, physical violence or even suicide. “Since our formal education system began, countless young people’s lives have been blighted or destroyed by homophobic bullying.”

Fortunately for our children, similar school programs are being held in Australia. Lisa Bogie, Health Promotion Officer at Family Planning NSW explains the aim of their Same Difference project is to promote awareness of sexual diversity and reduce homophobia in schools through a comprehensive and multi-strategic approach. This includes delivering interactive community education sessions in schools that explore issues around sexual diversity and homophobia, and training LGBTI youth to speak in these sessions about their experiences.

Lisa says that surveys of Australian school students have consistently reported that between seven and nine per cent of year 10 and 12 students experience attraction to people of the same sex, but continue to experience discrimination and abuse in schools on the basis of their minority status.

In the most recent ‘Writing Themselves In’ report, 37% of LGBTI youth described their school as homophobic. Many revealed that they had been subjected to physical and verbal abuse, social exclusion, humiliation and other negative experiences.

Lisa says international research suggests that ongoing abuse can lead to vulnerability in LGBTI youth, something which schools can help reduce by fostering an inclusive culture. “Opening up the conversation about sexual diversity in schools could not only reduce prejudices which lead to homophobic attitudes, but also normalise the feelings of LGBTI youth and include them as a part of the diverse school community.”

One student who has benefited from this project is 15-year-old Lachie Parry. “It was an eye opening experience and made the students who attended think, not just about the struggles of LGBTI youth, but also ways they could improve their school in order to make it a safer place.”


While he’s never felt unsafe in school because of who he is, Lachie says it's still not easy. “High School is a place where it’s perfectly okay to judge a person you have never met, and a person's sexuality is a hot topic. I've endured plenty of kids 'guessing' at who I am based on stereotypes.”

Lachie felt that a great part of the Same Difference program was being able to choose which activities he would attend throughout the day. “Being a student who was struggling with similar issues, it was comforting listening to the guest speaker talk about his coming out experience and all in all the program was inspiring to me to want to help other people dealing with this and make my school a safer place.”

Lachie recently received the Long Tan Defence Force Award for Leadership and is now working with his school to help LGBTI youth and eliminate homophobic bullying. He has expressed his interest in getting the Same Difference Program to come his school and has put up posters to make the school community more aware and hopes to write something for the school newsletter. “I find out if I will be allowed in the new school year, and hopefully action will be taken and my school will become a better place!” This improvement in schools needs to start from within. “Teachers are an important part of this process as the models and powerbrokers within classrooms and the school grounds.” Lisa says.

Shaun explains that the derogatory use of the word ‘gay’, which he says is endemic in British schools, is part of the problem, and something which can easily be solved at a whole-school level. He believes that anyone who enters education as a profession must display an authentic commitment to the safety and well-being of all the pupils in their care, not only the children who conform to their own personal, theological, political beliefs or experience. “If educators cannot do this, and sadly some seem to be unable or unwilling to place the needs of all pupils, including those who may emerge as LGBTQI first, then they are frankly in the wrong job. It is now 2014, this needs to end - for one damaged child was one too many.”