Is our sex-ed inclusive enough?

Sex is not an easy subject to talk about, especially amongst a classroom of giggling teenagers. Yet, it is the responsibility of schools to provide a sex education which promotes safe sexual practices for later in life. However, sex education for those who know they are part of the LGBTQ+ community from an early age is not always straightforward. LGBTQ+ sex education is often dismissed by schools whose teachers and curriculum lack information on how it works, and are afraid to get it wrong or to come across as homophobic.

It is true that society has come a long way since the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher introduced Section 28 – a series of laws which prevented schools from embracing the LGBTQ+ community. Scotland repealed the laws in 2000, with the UK following in 2003. Despite the repeals, the progress made to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity in schools has been slow. According to a 2017 study by Stonewall, 40% of participants had not received education on samesex relationships. Such a large number of children and young adults being denied access to LGBTQ+ sex education emphasises how it has not been prioritised, even after Section 28 has been overturned.

The impacts this lack of education could have on LGBTQ+ youths are profound. Without the appropriate knowledge to help them understand sex, they are more likely to struggle maintaining healthy relationships. As a result of this, the probability of them having sex at an early age, engaging in unsafe sex or experiencing dating violence is much higher than that of heterosexual people. This leaves the LGBTQ+ community vulnerable to a large number of physical and mental health issues. For example, nonheterosexual individuals have been identified as having higher levels of anxiety than heterosexual people. In a 2017 study, the Office for National Statistics found that bisexual people experienced the highest rates of anxiety at around 0.76%, whilst heterosexual people experienced -0.01%.

As a bisexual woman myself, these figures do not surprise me. I have struggled with anxiety for a long time, and I believe my lack of knowledge surrounding my identity did not help. Realising that my primary and secondary school sex education was minimal and non-LGBTQ+ inclusive, I felt scared and naïve, spending hours researching more about my bisexual identity. We shouldn’t have to turn to the internet for our sex education. We deserve the same quality of education as everyone else. late for a country that repealed Section 28 in 2003. Many young people will have missed out on the chance to grow up understanding themselves and feeling like a valid part of society.

It was only three years ago that the UK government made LGBTQ+ sex education compulsory in education curriculums. Is it enough? Not yet. It is progress, but it has come rather

Also, the flexibility the curriculum allows could produce both positive and negative consequences. The way in which a teacher chooses to teach LGBTQ+ sex education can affect the quality of the education; whilst one teacher might go into great depth with the teaching, another might attempt to skim the surface of the matter. Census revealed that more than 1.3 million people in England now identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. More must be done by the government to ensure the health and safety of our community in the years to come.