Bryanston was recently
delighted and honoured to be awarded Stonewall’s Gold School Champion Award in
recognition of the school’s work over the past three years with regard to LGBT+
awareness and inclusion. Ian McClary, the school’s LGBT+ lead, writes…
On 6 September 2018 the Indian Supreme Court
unanimously voted to repeal its colonial-era law which criminalised
homosexuality - a cause for great celebration, not only for India’s LGBT+
community, but also for countless others who want them to be able to live and
love, free from fear and discrimination. There might well be a long way to go
before prevailing attitudes catch up with this change, but it is nevertheless
an important step forward in the world’s largest democracy.
It wasn’t so very long ago that the UK took a
similar, though more tentative step, in 1967, to partially decriminalise
homosexuality. Indeed, it wasn’t until the first decade of the 21st Century
that we made the more significant strides forward, both in terms of legislation
and general attitudes. Many will remember the controversial Section 28 of the
Local Government Act, introduced in 1988, which effectively ensured a culture
of silence about and discrimination of LGBT+ people and issues in schools until
2003, when it was repealed. The only positive aspect of its legacy (and, I am
sure, an unintended one on the part of the government at the time) was that it
inspired the formation of Stonewall, which has become the largest LGBT rights
charity in Europe.
Their extremely successful School Champions
Programme is something that Bryanston has been
involved with since 2015, and
has helped us to make our own strides forward with regard to LGBT awareness and
inclusion. Each year we have worked towards a range of increasingly ambitious
targets relating to school policies, challenging homophobia, biphobia and transphobia
(HBT), supporting LGBT+ pupils and embedding awareness in the wider curriculum
and the school community. In 2016 we achieved their Bronze award in recognition
of our efforts and, in 2017, their Silver award for our continued work in these
areas. This year we become one of only a handful of schools in the UK to be
granted their Gold award as we demonstrate sustained evidence of our long-term
commitment to LGBT+ inclusion and awareness in the school.
So what do these awards say about us as a
school? Bryanston has always been a school in which the individual can thrive,
but we tended to assume that we were LGBT+ aware and inclusive without doing
anything actively about it. These awards demonstrate not only that we have
thought a great deal about how we operate and what life is like at Bryanston
for LGBT+ people, but also that we have been much more proactive in
‘promot[ing] respect and understanding of LGBT+ people and issues’ (Equality
Act 2010). But we haven’t done it as a box ticking exercise simply to comply
with this particular piece of legislation. Nor has it been just about getting
the award, but rather embedding best practice and ensuring that it continues.
Just as in the classroom - it’s not the qualification but rather the journey of
learning taken as a whole which is more important. It is wonderful, of course,
to know that we have achieved Stonewall’s gold standard, but we are acutely
aware that our work does not end here; indeed, once a standard is reached it
needs to be maintained - in a community which replenishes itself by almost a
quarter each year, we need
to continue to encourage and support, and celebrate.
Where the School Champions awards have been
extremely useful is by helping Bryanston to structure its work as we develop
and evolve in this area. Take our dress code for example: it was always
possible to wear it in a gender-neutral way but its most recent iteration has
now evolved to be fully inclusive of trans and non-binary identities.
Furthermore, our pupil-led Equality Society is now in its fifth year - the
result of sustained interest and effort on the part of the pupils who regularly
meet to explore a range of issues relating to equality, diversity and human
rights, including sexuality and gender identity. I hope that LGBT+ pupils at
Bryanston feel increasingly comfortable being who they are at school and coming
out if they feel the time is right for them. I hope they, and all pupils, know
that any form of HBT language or behaviour is unacceptable at Bryanston, that
LGBT+ pupils (and staff) are valued for who they are, and that they are, in the
words of Stonewall’s motto, ‘[accepted] without exception’.
As an OB and recent A2 Current Affairs speaker
put it, ‘Returning to Bryanston
after 25 years it was inspiring to see the journey of inclusion the school has
been on. When I was at the school, Section 28 was still in force, the HIV
epidemic prompted scaremongering which demonised gay people and the only time
trans people were visible was in freakshow journalism - it wasn’t a good time
for me to be a gay teenager struggling with their sexuality and I can’t say
those memories are my happiest. To see now how the school is embedding
inclusion across policies is great, but what is really inspiring is the way it
is manifesting this in the culture and ethos of the school so that every young
person in its care can truly find their authentic self in a supportive
environment where teachers and pupils are visible allies and stepping up to
create a more inclusive future’. (1)
It’s important to ensure that all our pupils
thrive, including the 10% of our pupils who do not identify as heterosexual or
who are questioning their gender identity (2). Uninformed young people are
vulnerable young people, LGBT+ or otherwise, and it is concerning that LGBT+
young people experience higher rates of mental ill health on account of
negative stereotypes, prejudice and HBT (3). Although this is, I am glad to
say, gradually being reduced in the UK, thanks in no small part to the work of
organisations like Stonewall, we need to continue to ensure, for our part, that
Bryanston is a welcoming, respectful and supportive community for LGBT+ people.
Having been privileged enough to have had the opportunity to celebrate our
wedding at school, my husband and I can attest to just how welcoming it is!
(1) Dr Justin Varney OB - National Strategic
Advisor, Public Health England.
(2) Bryanston School pupil LGBT survey 2016.
(3) Stonewall School Report 2017.
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