Anti-bullying provisions needed!

Dear UK government: Why LGBTQ+ youth need anti-bullying provisions

Rachel Badham talks to Dr Ben Colliver about withdrawal of funding for schools

In November 2020, the UK government announced it would be cutting funding for the Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic Challenge Fund – an initiative designed to protect LGBTQ+ school students and staff from discrimination and prejudice. Although it was not compulsory, it provided free workshops and training for all UK schools, with the cuts leaving many concerned about the lack of attention the government is giving to the struggles of LGBTQ+ youth.

Dr Ben Colliver

The announcement was met by immediate backlash from LGBTQ+ organisations, including Stonewall, which asked queer social media users to share their experiences of bullying at school. The responses found many experienced daily harassment at school and suffered from depression and even suicidal thoughts as a result. Some cases of bullying have been even more extreme, with students being physically assaulted and even committing suicide.

Respondents also emphasised the lack of LGBTQ+ topics featured in school curricula, and some even said they were bullied by members of staff for their sexual orientation or gender identity. But despite the sheer volume of LGBTQ+ youth who are subjected to bullying on a daily basis, the government is now turning a blind eye to the issue.

Dr Ben Colliver is a lecturer in criminology at Birmingham City University who specialises in research on gender, hate crimes and issues of inclusion, particularly in regards to the LGBTQ+ community. After his history of working alongside LGBTQ+ students, he was particularly disappointed at the news. Ben, who used to work with METRO London, an LGBTQ+ charity dedicated to providing health and community services, said: “I’ve done work in schools around teacher training and workshops with students... it’s all had such a positive impact so the news is massively disappointing.”

He theorised about why the UK government is neglecting the LGBTQ+ community: “There’s a huge amount of things going on at the moment, but I don’t think commitment to equality, inclusion and LGBTQ+ awareness has been a top Conservative priority.” He said that, while the government tends to appease the community temporarily, it is not committed to long-term change, with Ben describing the funding as “brilliant” when it was first introduced, but insufficient if only provided for a short amount of time.

During his time working with METRO, he heard about many of the issues LGBTQ+ students faced on a daily basis: “It ranged from passing comments, which are made out of ignorance, to continued harassment and physical violence.” He also found many schools tried to deal with cases such as this by applying the standard anti-bullying framework, which is often insufficient to tackle the level of prejudice to which young LGBTQ+ people are sometimes subjected. While the majority of teachers he came into contact with had dealt with anti-LGBTQ+ bullying, he found there was “no consistent level of awareness”, with many lacking confidence on how to deal with such issues. He said: “Where teachers haven’t received training, they don’t feel equipped to approach these issues so instead you just have silence.” He added that LGBTQ+ teachers are often left to address bullying, when it should be a shared responsibility.

However, he believes schools do have the potential to positively impact LGBTQ+ youth. Media representation is not always accurate, with it “often relying on stereotypes, so what you have is the reinforcement of a particular version of LGBTQ+ people which is not always positive”. Ben said schools should be a safe space where young people can address these problems and learn about inclusion and acceptance, but they can only be such a place if they receive adequate resources and funding.

In response to the recent budget cuts, he said: “Whoever made the decision should probably talk to schools that have been affected, and talk to people who have experienced bullying for their sexual orientation/gender identity. The government’s decision-making process relies quite heavily on statistics and a cost benefit analysis, but actually people’s stories are really powerful and you can’t quantify the impact that the cuts will have with statistics. Listen to the people who have received training about the way it impacted the way that they work and their confidence levels.”

What is evident is the experiences of young LGBTQ+ people and teachers has been very much ignored in the government’s decisionmaking process. Without essential funding, the workshops and training, which Ben found to be a lifeline for so many, cannot continue on the same scale. The UK government needs to address the backlash to its decision and understand why so many are dismayed over the cuts. More than ever, LGBTQ+ youth need support and for the government to meet these needs instead of overlooking them.