Life

Scotland becomes first country to require teaching of LGBTQ+ history in schools

By Conor Clark

28th September 2021

Scotland has made history by becoming the first country in the world to make teaching LGBTQ+ history in schools mandatory.

All school staff will have access to a toolkit of LGBTQ-inclusive teaching resources from the week commencing 20 September, as well as having to take a basic awareness e-learning course.

In addition to this, there will be an array of inclusive lesson plans and support materials made available to those working in education.

There will also be a website full of resources to support young people launched in a bit to support the community’s younger members.

LGBTQ+ history and topics will now be taught explicitly in Scotland, as well as being integrated into everyday learning where possible.

In practice, this will include things as simple as a maths problem about a child trying to figure out how much money they need to buy Father’s Day cards for their two dads.

There will also be exercises on combatting discrimination, which the government hopes will reduce bullying.

According to research released by Just Like Us, the UK’s LGBTQ+ youth are twice as likely to be bullied as their non-LGBTQ+ classmates.

John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary, praised the historic changes after they were confirmed earlier in 2021.

“Scotland is already considered one of the most progressive countries in Europe for LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex] equality,” he said in a statement.

“I am delighted to announce we will be the first country in the world to have LGBTI inclusive education embedded within the curriculum.”

According to Edinburgh Live back in November 2018, Scottish Ministers accepted the recommendations in full to deliver LGBTQ+ inclusive education to improve children’s understanding of the LGBTQ+ history.

Last year, a study found that a majority of British people think primary schools should teach LGBTQ-inclusive lessons.

Amid protests and harmful debates around the topic of LGBTQ-inclusive education in UK schools, Stonewall has found that 60% of British people believe it’s right to teach kids about diverse families including those with same-sex parents.

Support is even higher among young people, as this figure increases to 68% for Brits aged 16-24.

Meanwhile, around one-fifth (17%) of those surveyed said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with LGBTQ-inclusive teaching for primary school pupils.

“LGBT-inclusive education is life-changing teaching for so many young people, which is why it’s so powerful to see so much of the British public support the new legislation,” said Paul Twocock, Chief Executive at Stonewall.

“We owe it to the next generation to ensure our schools are a place where all children and young people can be themselves.

“It’s essential the Government invests more in training and resources to better prepare teachers and schools to deliver high-quality LGBT-inclusive teaching now and in the future.”