There are many things to think about when considering issues around sexual identity and education. Because of the heteronormative discursive practices that dominate social institutions such as schools, non-heterosexual identities are often marginalised or invisible within schools. This is especially the case for teaching staff, many of whom feel that they have to hide their sexuality within their workplace. The decision about whether or not an LGB educator should come out to pupils is one that is often fraught with tensions about being a good role model, hiding an important part of one’s identity and making visible non-heterosexual identities within the context of school. Research has found that without support, coming out at work can often feel impossible for LGBTQI teachers.
In addition, research by members of the Gender and Education Association has shown that the use of homophobic pejoratives is widespread in British schools and in young people’s experiences of bullying and growing up with an LGB identity, it has also been documented that such abusive naming practices are not necessarily regarded as being offensive and that, when asked, children and young people will argue that they ‘don’t mean gay people’ when they call something ‘gay’. However the Stand up for us guidelines published by the UK Education Department in 2004 allude to the fact that homophobic name-calling is offensive and dangerous to the mental health of young people who are labelled as such, however as these guidelines are not a compulsory component of schools’ anti-bullying procedures the situation remains unchanged, leaving LGBTQI youth in a vulnerable position.
Opening up a dialogue with young people about this use of language is a useful way to bring LGBTQI issues into the classroom.
Much research has focused on the secondary school as the space where pupils become sexualised, sexual identities formed and where positive dialogue about these matters becomes vital. However, recent work by Emma Renold (2005) shows that the primary school is not an ‘asexual space’, rather it is where pupils begin to recognise and develop their sense of ‘the normal’. It can be argued that as long as the oppositional binaries held in place by heteronormativity that police gendered and sexualised behaviour within schools, the legacy of successive LGBTQI generations will remain characterised by fear, isolation and abuse.
Emily Gray
