Across the 9 days leading up to polling day Dorset Eye will publish the answers to the questions set by local people for some of the local candidates standing in the 2015 General Election. Some candidates have yet to reply and should we receive their responses then they will be included in later interviews.
What do you intend to do about the lack of education in schools regarding LGBT issues and homophobic & transphobic bullying?
Within sex education will you include more information regarding non-straight sex?
Peter Barton: Green Party West Dorset
Green MP Caroline Lucas recently introduced a bill to parliament to make Personal, Social and Health Education a statutory part of the school curriculum. The PSHE programme envisaged by the Green Party includes teaching about sexuality, relationships and sexual identities in an age-appropriate way from primary school onwards in a way that helps every young person grow up in a climate of respect. This will involve the training of teachers as part of a wider training programme relating to all equalities issues.
Organisations such as Stonewall have campaigned for many years to improve the situation in which homophobic and transphobic bullying are the most common forms of bullying reported by school students and the Green Party regards this as a problem of enormous concern. We would require every school to have an anti-bullying policy and programme that explicitly combats homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying.
Vikki Slade: Liberal Democrats Mid Dorset and North Poole
Bullying is a problem across our society and in particular for those who are “different” from the so-called norm. I want to see better education about the damage bullying can do and an acceptance of difference. I am convinced that children do not see difference and pick up their prejudices from adults around them so I hope that over time this discrimination and bullying will reduce.
My priority for relationship and sex education is for the teaching of healthy relationships, whether they are straight or same sex.
Rachel Rogers, Labour Party West Dorset
I have long supported the introduction of compulsory age-appropriate sex and relationships education (SRE), to include issues such as boundaries, respect and consent. A Labour government will encourage all schools to embed character education across the curriculum and will work with them to stop the blight of homophobic/transphobic bullying.
Simon Bowkett: Labour Party Dorset South
I’ve taken these two questions together. Firstly, I should declare that my partner and I work in our “day jobs” in the Exeter area, and are both part of the organising committee for Exeter Pride. We are also Unison members, and part of LGBT Unison.
Anyone who saw the film “Pride” last year will appreciate that equality and social justice are values that lie at the very heart of the Labour movement. It’s always been Labour governments that have always strived to make Britain a more equal, fair and tolerant country.
I grew up in the 80s, when the now infamous Clause 28 was introduced by the Tories to ban the discussion of same-sex relationships in schools. One of the legacies of the last Labour government was the progress we made to sweep away decades of legislation based on the prejudice and persecution of lesbian, gay and trans individuals.
Under Labour, civil partnerships were introduced, the age of consent was equalized, adoption rights for gay people were introduced, and fertility rights for lesbian couples. Section 28 was abolished, as was the law preventing gay or bi service personnel from being open about their sexuality.
Today, we have record numbers of openly LGBT candidates standing for Labour at this election, including Emily Brothers, our party’s first openly trans candidate in Sutton and Cheam. Ed Miliband has also appointed Michael Cashman OBE as Britain’s first LGBT international rights ambassador under a Labour government. It’s not often I applaud the Tories, but Cameron did well to stand up to opposition within his own party (including Richard Drax who has consistently voted against progress for the LGBT community) to introduce equal marriage.
However, our next Labour government still has work to do to ensure LGBT people experience equal treatment. Key to delivering this progress will be working with colleagues in every government department to ensure equality is a priority across every area of government. This can’t be achieved through legislation alone. Cultural change – the battle for hearts and minds – takes longer, and requires all of us who stand for tolerance to demonstrate our values and to challenge oppressive practice and behaviour whenever we see it.
That process has to start with education, in our schools. That’s why Labour has committed to tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying as a priority.
Inclusive sex and relationships education (SRE) has to play a major part in this. A Labour government will make SRE compulsory in every state-funded school, including faith schools and academies. We will do so because want to make sure our young people are equipped to deal with the pressures of the modern world, of the internet, and also grow up aware of the diversity of modern families, and to celebrate diversity amongst us.
I want to see open conversations in the classroom between students who feel safe, and who are able to understand and respect one another. Conversations about sexual relationships (including same-sex relationships) and about parenting, conversations about issues such as consent, self-esteem and assertiveness, and about diversity in identity. We know pornography is more accessible than ever before and in the absence of a proper discussion in schools it can become the only sex education young people receive.
Section 28 may have gone, but its impact is still felt in too many schools. Far, far too many lesbian, gay and bisexual young people suffer the effects of depression, self-harm and attempted suicide – and we see even higher rates for trans young people. Addressing the challenges of mental health will be a priority for the next Labour government, and as part of this we will focus particularly on ending the scandal of the neglect of young child mental health.
Schools are micro-communities, so we will give pupils ownership over setting the standards and expectations for their own behaviour. Some of the most effective and inspiring examples of initiatives to tackle homophobic bullying and celebrate difference are those that have been devised and led by young people themselves.
By giving young people ownership some schools have seen some significant reductions in incidents of prejudice-based bullying.
Labour will continue to build on our legacy and fight for the values of social justice and equality until every child can go to school to learn in an environment free from bullying and discrimination and until every LGBT person can be proud of who they are and who they love free from fear or prejudice.
Oliver Letwin: The Conservative Party West Dorset
Actually, I think our West Dorset schools do a very good job of ensuring that their pupils grow up respecting one another, regardless of their sexual orientation.
It is, and should be, a matter for heads to decide how sex education is taught in their schools.
Simon Hoare: Conservative Party North Dorset
Bullying of any kind in school must not be tolerated and we need to ensure that Headteachers have the necessary tools and training to deal with this issue.
I think that sex education should focus on its role within a relationship and its safe practice. The risks of unsafe sex, of whatever type, need to be made clear and a better understanding of what a relationship is, irrespective of who it is between, needs to be fundamental.
Ros Kayes: Liberal Democrats West Dorset
The Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) equality for decades. We have the best record in Parliament of any political party on LGBT+ equality issues, successfully passing the Equal Marriage Act as part of the coalition government, and we continue to develop and promote progressive policies for LGBT+ people. We believe that sexual and relationships education should be age appropriate and start from age 5 and that it should reflect the diversity of our communities and the developing sexualities of diverse students within school communities. In 2014 Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem Equalities Minister set up a £2 million fund for schools to helpo them stamp out homophobic bullying. We want a named person in every school to support the stamping out of cyber bullying . Staff need appropriate training in dealing with prejudice (sometimes their own) and peer mentors and outside support in the form of specialist counsellors who can work with tutor groups and year groups to get them to engage relevantly with the issues and the impacts of their behaviour need to be made available.
Jane Burnet: Green Party Dorset South
Our emphasis is on equality between all groups. We want to see an end to the National Curriculum which is not fit for purpose and only serves a very narrow aim of pushing students through exams largely based on the so called (by other parties, not us) ‘rigorous’ subjects. The pressure this causes on the timetable means that many, many, important issues that affect young people and that will enable them to create stable communities, are not addressed.
We want to see all schools delivering learning entitlements based on literacy and numeracy but then to deliver this through a creative curriculum, allowing schools to respond to their local community resources and needs. Within this there would be more time to address LGBT issues, homophobic and transphobic bullying. I’m sure you are aware that subjects like PSHE and citizenship are not, at present given as much weight as they should be and these are the subjects where bullying of all kinds should be addressed. Caroline Lucas has been campaigning to address this curriculum imbalance and it is GP policy.
Thank you to all those who responded and to all those who set the questions.
