It’s frightening to believe but two in five primary school teachers say children and young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, currently experience homophobic bullying, name calling or harassment in their schools.

(The Teachers’ Report, Stonewall, 2009).

As more and more gay people are having families, the need to address the lack of teacher training is becoming increasingly urgent.

Eight-year old Mark shares his experience: Sometimes they say... you know, everybody’s got a dad, he must be dead, or something. I say no he’s not dead. All I’ve got is a donor dad and sometimes I get teased by them calling my dad, donut dad.' (Different Families, Stonewall, 2010).

Many primary school teachers tell us that children do not understand the meaning behind their homophobic remarks. This means they don’t understand the impact of their prejudice. Homophobic language in the playground and in classrooms is a widely reported problem but nine in ten primary school teachers told us they had received no training on how to deal with it.

I feel that the younger it is addressed (from age five upwards), the more receptive the children are to believing other ways of life are acceptable… just teach them that some people have other ways of life and it is just as normal as the ways of life they are familiar with. Alice, teacher, primary school. 

But there is hope. On the occasions where teachers are able to speak confidently to their pupils about lesbian, gay and bisexual issues, the response is invariably positive.

The children discussed the situation and tried to put themselves in the person’s shoes. The comments have stopped immediately and have never started again. Mia, teacher, faith primary school. 

And that is why Stonewall believes it’s vital to talk about different families – and the issues they face – in a classroom setting in order to allow all children to feel included. By educating primary school teachers about inclusivity we aim to address negative feelings about – and bullying of – children from different families.

Teachers tell us that they would welcome resources that give them a practical, engaging way to talk about diversity and difference in a safe, age-appropriate and inclusive way.

With your help we can change things today. Stonewall’s pioneering new teacher training DVD will help equip primary school teachers with the skills and training to talk openly and confidently about the changing nature of families.

We urgently need your support.

The total cost of reproducing and distributing our new DVD and posters celebrating different families as well as providing information about appropriate story books for one school is £7. There are 25,000 primary schools.

Please consider making a donation today. Your support has meant so much to us in the past and enabled us to carry out some of this vital research. With your help today we can put in place practical steps to address these problems in primary schools in order to eradicate homophobic bullying. With your help we can ensure every young lesbian, gay or bisexual person enjoys their school experience and is able to achieve their full potential.

Please give as generously as you can to help us create a Britain where every lesbian, gay and bisexual person, wherever they come from, is treated equally and with respect.

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