anti-gay bullying

[Gayboigarry]

[quote=marshlander;40471

Btw, Garry, your school should have anti-homophobic policies in place. They can't take action if you don't report it, although I know how difficult that might be.

Hugs and good luck to you.[/quote]


thanks and I do report it but the thing is there is no anti-homophobic policies in the rules it sas there is but I am in year 11 now and since year 9 when I came out all i been getting from the teachers is basically shit they say it's my fuilt or just ignore it and I am always saying time and time again how can I ignore the whole class kill gay people and that what happend in R.E btw lol and the teacher was thinking it as funny

[huw cymru]

Gary,
There are groups who will help and suport you.
Try 'Schools Out' or Stonewall or Kidscape or Bullyinguk all of whom have websites/advice lines etc.

[marshlander]

thanks and I do report it but the thing is there is no anti-homophobic policies in the rules it sas there is but I am in year 11 now and since year 9 when I came out all i been getting from the teachers is basically shit they say it's my fuilt or just ignore it and I am always saying time and time again how can I ignore the whole class kill gay people and that what happend in R.E btw lol and the teacher was thinking it as funny

In which case it is time to up the stakes. It is shocking that your RE teacher did not respond appropriately. Do you have a school council to whom you can take your concerns? If you can swing some weight of peer support for your cause it should help. There will be someone in the school who has responsibility for equal opportunity issues as there has to be for child protection. Try and have a chat with that person. Keep a diary of your experiences. Note the date, lesson, who said what and what was done. Present a copy of your diary to the teacher you speak to and discuss it with them. If you cannot find out who is responsible, get in touch with your local authority. I don't know which part of London you are in, but there will be a "Children's Services" office somewhere in your borough. Ask to speak to speak to someone who deals with "homophobic incidents". That person will be duty bound to do something about it. If the school is failing in its duty of care to monitor bullying (and remember that homophobic bullying now has an extra weight of law against it) they can send in advisers/inspectors who can lean very heavily on the school management to make sure the problems are addressed. If you still get no satisfaction there is always the opportunity to raise the issue when OFSTED come calling for their next school inspection. If you go this route the school will have to do something. It is years since I had anything to do with OFSTED inspections and the process has changed since I did it, but the policies contained within "Every Child Matters" must still be a part of the inspection regime.

In the meantime, Huw has referred you to some excellent sources of support for yourself. Don't forget Childline too.

It is possible to make a difference. I was working in a school with Y9s one day last week. I was running a whole class workshop and looking for volunteers to play particular musical instruments from within the class. One boy was on the verge of allowing himself to be cajoled into playing a large drum. His reluctance prompted one girl to call out to him, "Don't be so gay!" I stamped on that comment very quickly. She apologised and there were no further comments like that from anyone throughout the day. If all adults in the school formed a united front against homophobic language and behaviour I am sure that incidents would be reduced, even if it is probably a bit unrealistic to expect them to be stamped out altogether. Your RE teacher is out of order and is a weak link (one of many I suspect) in your school's defence against homophobic abuse.

Finally, and this may be a tall order, are you doing whatever you can to maintain your own self-esteem and dignity? I know the others are in the wrong, but it is a weakness in human nature to treat with less respect anyone who is perceived as "whingeing". Of course, I realise that there also comes a time when the last resort may be to scream and shout and hold your breath till you turn blue to get someone to notice you. May it not come to this.

It is a pity that this is all coming to a head now. At this stage in Y11 you should be finishing up course-work projects and getting ready for your GCSE exams. I hope these nasty events don't prevent you from doing your best at this important time.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[fredv3b]

When s28 was brought in by Thatcher's govermnent , it was done really as a propaganda exercise to show they were dealing with what they portrayed as the 'threat' of 'loony left /militant ' councils tthat were 'promoting homosexuality' . (as an aside as someone active on the left in student politics in the mid 1980's I recall that in fact the Militant Tendency always had a reputation for being somewhat homophobic)

...............

An historical 'own goal'?

Interesting points. I agree that section 28 was about being seen to do something about a problem perceived by Tory supporters (who, no doubt, were convinced it was a major problem by certain newspapers). If the government had really believed it was a problem then they would have written a decent bit of legislation. Section 28 was in my opinion an appalling piece of legislation from a technical point of view. It banned Local Authorities from 'promoting homosexuality'. No clear explanation was given as to how homosexuality could be seen to be 'promoted'. In addition since Personal & Social Education (read sex education) is by pre-existing statute under the control of the Head Teacher and Governors not the Local Authority it was unclear as in what circumstances, legally speaking, Section 28 applied. Given this ambiguity it was not surprising that the legal advice sought by the teachers unions was to regard the whole area as a legal no go area.

As for it being an historical own goal, that assumes the Tory Party has one mind (and is not like everyother political party in being a loose confederation of warring tribes) and those who had it included in the legisation thought it was necessary for its own sake.

[huw cymru]

Just on the 'own goal' point , wearing my historian and not my political hat I think it that s28 was a good example to show that the old conservative party ( One nation - paternalism - even being acepting of homosexuality as long as it was discretly behind closed doors and largely for the ruling class) was highjacked by the free market revolutionaries of Thatcherism.
From my perch on the political left I have to say that historically the conservatives have survived from the days when they used to be the tories in the 18th Century by being , unlike the parties in the left and centre,a broad church, and one that was able to survive by in fact not by being 'conseravtive' at all, but one that could adapt and change and accommodate.
Homophobia has been, and to a large extent still is prevalent in all political parties .
It isn't open anymore, but it rears its head when it can be used to attack rivals ,either internal or external

[antm55]

Nope none of my teachers did anything, so one day i went up to one of the " wannabe black kids" and punched him as hard in the face as i could, it was wrong but felt so good. Nobody brought it up again. In my school it was (mostly) the black kids who here homophobic and teachers were scared to say anything to them because they would be branded racist.

[DtotheJtotheM]

guys always backed me up against the wall and hit and punched me, they also... forced themselves upon me, chanting almost; "you like that, don't you faggot?" whilst simulating sexual acts on me like mutual masturbation and other acts which are too unspeakable to list here, this happened in the schoolyard in front of teachers who looked the other way and in changing rooms over a period of 4-5 years... And that was before I actually came out.

It's stopped now. Well, the physical bullying has. Now its just almost-too-coincidentally placed comments about fags having AIDS and all that jazz...

*half-hearted smile*

[zeon]

Hi DJM,
I am sorry to hear that you had those comments.. I am horrified to hear that the teachers just turned the other way and said nowt.. You may find babes that in years to come when your age of 24 your find that those bullys who pinned you against the wall and gave you shit may find you on a site like facebook and you may get an apology from them. I know all the nasty bastards in my school most have apologized to me for the way they behaved as we all eventually grow to be stronger.. Jus dont let the nasty bits of childhood follow you into adulthood :-) Keep ya chin up hunni

Kindest regards

Zeon xx

[antm55]

To the people who are still being bullied. I was suprised to hear people actually get physically attacked. Nobody ever laid a finger on me, In year 7 I was just seen as the quiet kid, then in year 8 and 9 people started the whole names thing but I never took any notice, or just laughed at (not with) them. I never felt sad or bad, or depressed or anything like that. Then they realised It didn't hurt me and in year 10, 11 and 12 I became friends with some of the guys just because they had grown up and we had a laugh in classes.

Dont let it get to you, Dont ever feel bad/sad because its nothing to you. Most of the time you find out the ones who start the bulling have tragic home lives which if you are a bitch you could find out about and ruin their reputations and let them see what it feels like.

Again a weird thing was, i never once said I was gay...

and also how come some people actually believe only gay people can get HIV and AIDS?