Abstract

Section 28 (Local Government Act 1988) was repealed in 2003 and the Equalities Act 2010, made it illegal to discriminate against someone in terms of gender or sexual orientation, yet until 2020, there was no official guidance for all schools on how to integrate the teaching of LGBTQI+ issues (DFE, 2017a; DFE, 2017b). Many practicing teachers will have been educated and developed their pedagogy and practice at a time when discussions of LGBTQI+ issues in schools were either illegal (pre-2003) or with no official guidance of support (post-2003). There is very little research on the experiences of LGBTQ+ teachers, particularly in the UK. This research, still ongoing, seeks to provide insight into the experiences of teachers who are either open or are not open about their identity, and explore how they made their decision and what they feel could be done to improve LGBTQ+ representation in education.

Through a mixed methods survey, teachers throughout the UK are being asked a series of qualitative and quantitative questions about their experience in schools. As the survey is still ongoing, results are preliminary, however some themes are emerging. Teachers who are open about their sexual orientation or gender identity tend to be younger, working in schools which have an inclusion and diversity policy and not personally experienced discrimination. Teachers who are less open are more likely to be older, have experienced discrimination and do not have a supportive ethos in their school.

A major barrier for people being open about their identity is fear, fear of abuse from pupils or families, or fear of false allegations and a lack of support from school leadership. Increased representation, particularly in leadership, and reduced stigma is an important factor for people to feel able to be open about their identity.