Bullying is not something we want happening in our society (Illustration: Fox Fisher for Metro.co.uk)

In 2013 a transgender primary school teacher by the name of Lucy Meadows took her own life, shortly after being ridiculed and humiliated in her community and the media.

Her death served as a reminder that LGBT education isn’t just about students but also about teachers, and society as a whole. And six years on there is still much to do.



I think we can all agree bullying is bad. It’s horrendous, actually. I speak from experience as someone that was bullied throughout my entire childhood for being a ‘pansy’, a ‘sissy’ and a ‘fag’.



It’s not something we want happening in our society, whether that’s within our families, workplace or schools. But still bullying continues to be a massive problem in the UK.



A recent report from YMCA showed more than half of all young people in the UK have been bullied because of their appearance.



Similarly, students are subjected to bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity. Around 45 per cent of LGBT pupils in the UK have experienced bullying and the consequences are obvious.

LGBT students suffer from poorer mental health than their peers, with 84 per cent of trans pupils having self-harmed, as have 61 per cent of LGB students. Alarmingly high numbers have attempted to take their own life, with 45 per cent of trans pupils and 22 per cent of LGB pupils.



The recent debate surrounding whether LGBT education should exist in schools illustrated how we still have such a long way to go to make our schools a safe place for everyone.


Over three decades after Section 28 and 16 years after it was repealed, the government finally decided it’s okay to officially talk about queer people in school. The decision was met with protests from groups of parents.

Parents staged a protest outside a school demanding LGBT lessons are banned (Photo: SWNS)

But the lessons mean kids will now be taught that their peers might have two mummies or daddies, that people have different bodies, that trans people have nothing in common with Buffalo Bill and that gender stereotypes are bad. Stuff of horrors, if you ask me.



And this is about more than just the students. This is also about the teachers and staff at school. Not only do all teachers have to be able to address these issues in their classrooms, but within their own ranks as well.



As someone who worked as the Educational Director of the National Queer Organisation of Iceland for four years where I visited school pupils and staff across the country, I can testify that it’s often the adults rather than the children who hold prejudiced opinions.



So while LGBT education is vitally important for students, it’s equally as important for the staff.

Not only to make sure teachers are equipped to combat bullying and name-calling in the classroom, but also to combat prejudice and misconceptions teachers themselves might have. And more importantly, so that teachers who are queer feel supported in their workplace by their colleagues.

Teachers play a vital role in the upbringing of our children and it needs to be ensured they are capable of fostering understanding and acceptance of difference, rather than enforcing harmful stereotypes and misconceptions. And for that they need to be equipped with the right tools, resources and knowledge. Those teachers that aren’t willing to do this are quite frankly in the wrong job.



We are raising a new generation of people, and LGBT education isn’t only making sure that kids don’t bully their peers at school — it’s making sure that kids today grow up knowing that it’s not acceptable to bully, abuse or terrorise people at any point for simply being different to them.



It’s to make sure that no one has to go through what Lucy Meadows went through.



We do have a choice. It’s about time the UK made the right one.



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