Experts question LGBT school plan

Bullying of children and young people because of their sexual orientation has been a long-standing issue in English schools, with victims often left feeling isolated and depressed.

In a bid to address the situation, a youth charity in Manchester has proposed the creation of an alternative provision school in the city, designed primarily for young people who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

If it goes ahead, it would be the first of its kind in the UK, but the idea has already split opinion.

Amelia Lee, strategic director for LGBT Youth North West, the organisation behind the initiative, says the school could save lives.

She points to the suicide of 14-year-old Manchester girl Elizabeth Lowe, who feared telling her family she was a lesbian, as well as a similar case of a girl in Bolton, as evidence that schools in the area are not as inclusive as they should be.

"Lots of pupils have a really tough time and we want to do what we can to help those pupils and to give them additional support," she says.

"We can either hope every school is going to be inclusive or we can recognise we are not there yet and we need more specialised schools," she says.

Inclusive schooling

But others are not convinced it is the right thing to do.

Patricia Durr, head of policy at equality and diversity charity Metro, says the idea could be useful for young people who have reached crisis point at their mainstream school, but does not represent a long-term solution.

"We work with young people who are just having an awful time in mainstream schooling," she says.

"In that particular moment, it could potentially be useful to that young person.

"But the long-term goal has to be to have access to mainstream schooling that is inclusive.

"The overall picture (in schools) isn't great, but there are some examples of great work happening."

Elly Barnes, chief executive of Educate & Celebrate, a charity that supports teachers and produces resources to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, agrees that inclusive mainstream schools, rather than a network of specialist LGBT provision, must be the objective.

"I don't believe there should be a different type of school for different people because that is segregation and we want integration," Barnes says.

"It is absolutely imperative that we advocate LGBT inclusion in all our schools throughout the country.

"We have to create safe, inclusive spaces for LGBT young people."

Teacher training

Barnes says there must be more training for teachers.

"There are staff in schools who are not necessarily feeling very confident and are quite fearful of LGBT issues," she says.

"They may want to give young LGBT people help in schools, but don't know where to start.

"We need to go to the heart of the problem, which is teacher training."

She says initial teacher training should have elements around tackling homophobic bullying.

The government is already taking steps to try to improve school experiences for LGBT young people.

In October, it made £2m available to charities and not-for-profit organisations to help them tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

Barnes says a number of organisations have successfully bid for allocations from the fund to help produce resources for schools - such as books that promote different views of the family.

But she says the Department for Education needs to show commitment to the products by advertising them.

"There needs to be government backing to roll them out to schools across the country," she says.

At-a-glance guide to LGBT school plans

• It is planned for the school to initially take up one level of the Joyce Layland LGBT Centre in central Manchester
• The school is primarily intended for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people, although it will be open to all young people, regardless of sexual orientation
• The concept is based on the Harvey Milk School in New York, which was named after US politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to office in the country, and opened in 1980
• It will initially be able to cater for up to 40 full-time pupils and will also have some part-time places for young people who want to continue attending a mainstream school
• It is hoped that the school will act as a "trailblazer" that other areas can replicate
• A feasibility study into the plans is currently being conducted after the charity received £63,000 in grant funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government community assets and services programme
• The site of the planned school is currently a dedicated space for LGBT organisations and includes a meeting space, rentable offices, an LGBT library and a cafe.