London school teaches gay history to beat homophobic bullies

A secondary school in north London claims to have almost eradicated homophobic bullying after it started teaching lessons on gay history.

Teachers at Stoke Newington School say they have succeeded in "more or less eliminating homophobic bullying" in classrooms and playgrounds by teaching pupils about well-known gay historical figures.

Pupils learn about wartime code-breaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide after he was prosecuted for his homosexuality and forced to choose between prison or taking female hormones. Gay authors Oscar Wilde and James Baldwin and artist Andy Warhol also feature in the lessons.

Music teacher Elly Barnes said she developed the lessons with colleagues five years ago, after she became concerned about pupils using "gay" as a derogatory term. Now the school plans to extend the scheme by teaching hundreds of teachers how to "educate and celebrate" being gay.

Ms Barnes aims to "eradicate homophobia from all schools" by giving staff the confidence and resources required to tackle the prejudice.

"Many schools haven't even begun to deal with homophobia," she said. "Some still think being gay is illegal in parts of the country. By looking at famous LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people in history, we've changed opinions and we have had a number of pupils come out.

"We have also changed the language used in the school. I used to hear the word gay used all the time as a derogatory term. Now we hardly hear it."

Earlier this month, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission published a report, How Fair is Britain?, which found two-thirds of lesbian, gay and transgender students had suffered homophobic bullying, and 17 per cent had received death threats.

The commission also found that nearly half of secondary school teachers in England believe homophobic bullying is common and that only one in six believes their school promotes the rights of gay pupils. A poll of 1,145 pupils in 2007 by the charity Stonewall found 65 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual students had been bullied for their sexuality. Around 98 per cent said "gay" was used as a word for "rubbish".