How to be an LGBT+ ally as a teacher

Rin Harris is a queer educator who works as an Education and Wellbeing Coordinator for Brook in north London. They have worked as a secondary school teacher, an LGBT+ youth worker and have run Pride groups in schools. In this blog for Pride Month, they give some top tips on how to be an LGBT+ ally in schools.

Challenge discrimination and bullying.

Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can be extremely insidious. It can be blatant, but it can also be subtle – small comments here, glances there – which can be harder to deal with.

If things like this are common in your school, it may be difficult to challenge them and it will take time to create lasting change. But if you have the backing of colleagues and work together to change the culture, it will be transformative for everyone. LGBT+ people will be at lower risk of being hurt or of hurting themselves. Cis/straight people will grow as human beings. Staff and students alike will be happier to be in a kinder, more inclusive place.

Treat LGBT+ young people with dignity.

Firstly, this means we respect young people’s right to privacy and to come out in their own time. So, we should avoid ‘outing’ them, even accidentally. Make absolutely sure that when discussing someone’s sexuality or gender identity you won’t be overheard by people who shouldn’t be overhearing that.

Secondly, it means that we treat people how they wish to be treated. If a cis young person prefers a nickname, given name or middle name to be used, we should use this. In the same way we should use their preferred name and pronouns if they are trans. However, we also need to be sensitive to their context. If they are not out, they might need us to call them their previous name in front of others, even though that can feel wrong to us. Talk to them about how they want you to approach it.  

Finally, it means that we understand that being LGBT+ is normal. if someone is LGBT+ there’s no need to panic about that. It’s a part of the fabric of human life and isn’t automatically a safeguarding concern. If you’re in any way concerned for them or aren’t sure, though, always talk to your Designated Safeguarding Lead or safeguarding team.

Be visible.

Showing that you support and respect LGBT+ people is important for everyone. It’s most important for LGBT+ students to know they are safe with you. It’s also important to show cis and straight students how to be inclusive and accepting, because it’s both the right thing to do and it will help them to be good neighbours and citizens in the future who follow laws such as the Equality Act.

There are many ways you can be visible, from something as simple as wearing a badge to creating displays to talking in lessons about LGBT+ people.

Create spaces for LGBT+ students to find community and thrive.

The antidote to shame and rejection is community and acceptance. This is why we need Pride and why we need our own spaces.

Consider carefully how you can set up a Pride group and involve young people from its inception. You don’t have to be LGBT+ to set up a group, though if an LGBT+ colleague wants to help then that’s even better.

Questions you would want to pose to students who may be interested in being involved are things like:

• Do they want allies to be allowed to come? This means they could bring cis/straight friends and also it provides the group some cover so being involved doesn’t automatically make you LGBT+. But they may prefer to have a space that’s just for them.
• When and where to hold it? If they may face discrimination or repercussions, could it be held in a part of the school that students don’t normally use, or even off site? Do you want to advertise the group? Do you want to advertise the day/time – or is this too exposing?
• What do they want the group to be called?
• What do they want to do in the group? Ideas could include arts and crafts, planning events/ fundraisers, watching films or even inviting speakers. Sharing food is usually a good idea – especially if they can put rainbows or flags representing their identities on it.

Of course, in addition to creating spaces specifically for LGBT+ people (and allies), our regular classrooms and teaching spaces should be as LGBT+ inclusive as possible! The most subtle changes could help make the existence of LGBT+ people visible, such as scenarios that include same-sex couples, families with two mums or two dads and trans folk. Perhaps when Sammi is buying some apples in the shop and needs some change back, Sammi happens to have singular they/them pronouns. Or maybe Farhana and Maria are at on holiday in Paris with their baby and need to ask for some groceries in French. You could also highlight LGBT+ pioneers in your subject in the taught curriculum or displays – such as Alan Turing in Maths/IT, Sally Ride in Physics, Zuleyma Tang-Martinez in Biology, Alice Walker in English, Gareth Thomas in PE or Yotam Ottolenghi in Food Tech.  

Celebrating is better than tolerating.

LGBT+ people need to be affirmed and celebrated due to the rejection and hatred (and fear of these) that we experience. Celebration is the antidote. Toleration is preferable to discrimination but it doesn’t provide the validation that LGBT+ people might need to have healthy self-esteem.

How do you do this in a school? I’d say by celebrating the rich diversity of LGBT+ lives and history – and by being unapologetic and deliberate about it. This could include using symbols such as flags and banners. It also means associating LGBT+ lives with happiness, success and fun – not only tragedy and problems. Something as simple as a bake sale for an LGBT+ charity can help associate LGBT+ people with positivity.

Change should be systemic.

Individual staff can be hugely impactful. We all remember those teachers who shaped our futures and how we see the world (hi, Mrs Canham and Mr Woodward!). But if staff aren’t united in their approach, it can be easier for those who might resist inclusive change to pick holes in the culture and push against it. Staff should feel supported when challenging homophobia, biphobia and transphobia – not exposed or vulnerable.

Policy and culture are hugely important. If the environment of school is a difficult one for LGBT+ people then things will still be very hard for those students. It’s also tough for individuals to push for change and they will experience burnout.

Normalise talking about LGBT+ lives.

Pride Month and LGBT+ History Month are great times to start discussions and hold events, but it’s just as vital to embed talking about LGBT+ lives and history throughout the curriculum and year-round. This could involve highlighting the contributions of LGBT+ people in any subject; speaking about LGBT+ issues in PSHE and assemblies; or even cross-subject curriculum projects.