Indoctrination: A History of Homophobia in Schools 

I love the line "we're not just one special lesson you can opt out of."

~50 years later and their “argument” is still the same. “Letting gays have the same rights as I do infringes on my rights!!!1!!1” It’d be funny if it wasn’t so evil.

01:45 "Men hugging other men." Imagine being so hate-filled and stupid, that even the slightest display of affection for another human being sets you off.

1:48 "Men hugging other men!" And we wonder why we have issues with emotional repression today.

im on team “inalienable right to be gay”

I think adults that think LGBT+ identities and topics will confuse children think this way because they find LGBT+ identities and topics confusing themselves. However, from both my own experience and the stories of others, children often have less difficulty understanding this stuff than adults. Adults typically have to unlearn many of the things they have been told about relationships and gender in order to understand LGBT+ identities and topics. Children have a clean slate, so if you tell them some boys like boys, some girls like girls, and some people may look like a boy on the outside but are a girl on the inside and vice versa, and some people are neither a boy or girl on the inside, a lot of kids get it immediately and require no further explanation. Adults make it seem complicated, but, fundamentally, it really isn't.

I had a fantastic bio teacher that taught us sex ed... When she was teaching the class about the "female" anatomy, she said: "And here, is the clitoris. Boys and girls, if you want to make your girl happy... do it here. (Everyone laughs)". I was just shook. At the time I didn't know I was a lesbian, but that made me feel less awkward about myself.

This was rough to watch. I'm in University in Germany now and I recently had a teacher say something homophobic about being glad her son wasn't gay. To top it off she later promoted an event where a trans man was coming to speak about trans issues and consistently misgendered him. I heard laughs from other students making dumb jokes about trans people. I didn't have any of my friends there, I didn't say anything and finished class, but I've never felt this unsafe as a trans woman. As I was walking home I kept looking over my shoulder and once I got home I broke down crying. I haven't been to the class since and haven't talked to any kind of authority about that incident, because irony has it that said teacher is part of said authority.

Once in school, we were handed out these leaflets that dealt with puberty, sexuality and protection. I remember that one page had a small highlighted box in the corner that said something like "Remember, that it is normal to feel attracted to the same sex right now, but you will grow out of these feelings as they are only a phase and not real" (very liberally paraphrased, since it wasn't in English and it was 4 or 5 years ago). There had been no mention of any kind of lgbtq+ people or issues before that (other than the jokes and slurs from other kids). I remember feeling so broken and embarrassed about myself, even though I didn't fully understand that I was gay yet. I hid the leaflet at the back of my drawer and would take it out when I was alone. I would read the same box over and over again, wishing that these feelings would pass, and I could be like other girls. This was only 4 or 5 years ago. After that we've only had one lesson that dealt specifically with lgbtq+ people and issues, and it was only 2 years ago. Sorry for the long comment but thought this was relevant.

When I was about 15, I learned about the different phases that a gay person goes through acknowledging and accepting that part of themselves. Before that I had never considered being gay as an option but those classes stuck with me. The older I got the more I realised that I was going through that myself and those classes helped me come to terms with it. Teaching children about LGBT matters is not "promoting being gay", it's simply telling them that LGBT people exist and that it's okay if they are too. Hearing that come from teachers, people who have a significant impact on your life, is one of the most validating things a LGBT child could hear.

that woman really said having a job was a special privilege

I've heard that "I can't be homophobic, I'm from Brighton" line about 3 times from different people...there seems to be a pattern here

In Australia, we had a program called "Safe Schools". Sadly, it didn't last long thanks to a group who (rather unfortunately) called themselves "Stop Safe Schools" (which really just sounds like they don't want schools to be safe).

as an a level sociology student we learn so much about internalised racism and class issues within education... but there is no real mention of homophobia!

I don't remember ever having any mention of anything LGBT+ until sixth form, and only then in relation to current affairs. The main thing I remember is that when I was in year 9 (2013) some year 11's put Stonewall posters up all around the school which my head of year then went around the school tearing down, ripping up, and throwing in the bin. I'm sure it was just that they hadn't had permission to put the posters up but at the time, I was just beginning to come out to myself and felt the aggression with which she was tearing down these posters quite personally.

This was both saddening, scary, informative and inspiring. Thank ypu

In my English class, we’re currently reading “The Great Gatsby” and the teacher brought up the possibility and subtext of Nick being gay. It was a weird conversation, but a good start.

Rowan, here's an idea for a video: Maybe you can talk about how European and American evangelicals often come to African nations (maybe other parts of the Global South too) to teach against homosexuality. Its a very common thing for these "First World" nations to export their queerphobia to other places once it becomes unpopular back home.

I found out i was gay at 12 and trans at 15. Both before I was 16 (the “”””””””””appropriate””””””””” age to learn about being lgbt) HMMMMMMMMMMM

I forgot how people would INCORRECTLY relate gay people with pedophiles in the 70’s. Some things never change :(

I always think of Rhys nicolsen's words when talking to a priest ; " If gay marriage is unnatural, it is as unnatural as walking on water or coming back from the dead"

‘We’re just gonna pretend that Nazi discrimination of gay men never happened?’ I went to an Evangelical Christian school and I can affirm that yes, yes they will.

When I was about eight, I asked my mom what the word "gay" meant. She hesitated to answer for a moment, but then she said: "You know how men and women love each other? Well, some men love men and women love other women. It's just the way some people are." Then I said "Oh" and went to go watch SpongeBob. Bear in mind, my mother wasn't the most progressive or woke person in the world, and even she had no problem explaining this to a child. Learning this didn't "corrupt my innocence" or "turn me gay". In fact, I have continued to like girls to this very day. However, it did validate these feelings I'd been having at school toward another boy in my class. One day, he showed up wearing glasses and I remember instantly blushing and thinking about how cute he was. Despite my mom's explanation, I knew that liking boys - even if I still liked girls - was "wrong" and I repressed hard. I endured so much homophobic bullying and torment in middle school that I fought so hard to prove to everyone that I was straight, and I didn't come to accept myself until I was in my early 20s. If I'd had the education about queer people at school and more teachers who were openly accepting of LGBTQ+ identities, maybe I would have embraced who I was sooner.

Texas school: Be yourself. It's fine because you won't be bullied. Student: *is gay and is bullied* Texas school: What sorry can't hear you I'm too busy reading this thousand plus year old book that says you're wrong and those people who are bullying you are right.

since moving from the Netherlands to the USA (Idaho), I have been shocked by all the homophobic remarks specifically from teachers :(

I was raised by a gay mother and throughout school I had to endure the horrible comment of "do you feel uncomfortable around your mum?" (Implying she was attracted to me) It didn't take me long to realise that the best response was for me to ask back "do you feel uncomfortable around your mum/dad?" and then respond to the usual "ewwww" with "EXACTLY"

To say that children might get confused is incredibly insulting to the evident adaptability of children. This is just a feeble excuse by homophobic parents.

I feel that American children are taught far too often that good wins without learning how it works. This leads to people "in the right" to sit back and believe it will all work out today while people fighting against the thing (ex: fighting for segregation, whereas the "right" thing is integration) mobilize in great numbers because they understand the threat to their way of life and beliefs. I believe this is why people are so successful at knocking down inclusive laws and social change.

Parents: We don't want our kids to be gay. Me: You can't do anything either way.... Parents: Challenge Accepted...

As a fledgling gay, I feel like I have to watch this, despite how painful and infuriating all this information may be. Thank you for the history lesson Rowan. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for everything that you do! An openly homophobic MP was just elected near home for me and my parents don't see why it's a problem. These are real, pervasive issues! Pockets of accepting communities in bigger cities don't cut it and we need to be talking about that.

i lost my job as a substitute teacher for being openly bisexual/queer, and telling my students it was okay to be gay, and didn't let them say homophobic slurs.

When I was struggling with my bisexuality as a teenager, all I really needed to hear was that it was okay, and that I was allowed to be the way I am. It’s so important that children understand about LGBTQ people and that their lives are valid. Thank you for this video ❤️

So, I'm nonbinary. I've only recently come out to my parents. Correction, I've only recently been _accepted_ by my parents. I'm planning on coming out to my teachers next year via email, explaining my preferred name and pronouns, and why it's important for me that they use them. I'm hoping it goes well. It shouldn't be too hard, I do look fairly ambiguous, so it'll probably make sense. I'm just kinda scared of coming out to other students, cause I don't think they'll take it seriously. I think I might just not come out, but that comes with the frustrating reality that most of my classmates will continue misgendering me, which will suck. I don't know. Right now I'm just gonna focus on my parents. Thanks for the amazing video as always!

Thanks so much for making this Rowan. It's so valuable to understand the history of this and how it still affects children's education. When I hear news like the school in Birmingham and children being pulled out of lessons it really makes me question why parents have that right. Imagine parents pulling their kids out of history or English because they didn't like the books they were reading? (actually now I've written that, it's probably happened).

men hugging men" is allready considered as a gay act? No wonder men have such a faulted relationship to intimacy. Such ads really prove that men to not regret intimacy because of the gay community screaming "gay" like some poeple proclaim, but because of straight people screaming "gay" and regreting those men

I attended a secondary school and attend that schools sixth form. They still have filters for "LGBT content" and when I challenged them I was told that it was for the safety of younger pupils. We were not taught about LGBT persecution under nazi regime during our year long nazi policy and implementation topic. Teachers are still not allowed to talk about LGBT issues because they say it is "improper". All instances of transphobic bullying (both physical and verbal) was ignored with the exception of one teacher. Trans pupils are still unable to use the facilities matching their gender but must instead use the disabled facilities which has led to both disabled and trans students being unable to use the toilets. When the school was challenged on this issue the trans person who raised the concern was called a sexual predator and when I later raised the issue this was posing to both trans and disabled students I was told that the school didn't want to make students uncomfortable but when I asked about trans students' comfort I was told that it was not a priority at this time. The ramifications of past laws and prejudices are still being felt today by many LGBT students in the country.

I go to a christian school and its interesting because the school only gives us imformation about LGBT people in our PSHE classes if students request it. Last year we had one but our teacher didn't know a lot and it ended up being led mainly by the LGBT members of my class.

My school was like a black hole for LGBT+ content. Not even a dedicated day to educating people. I had a headteacher who straight up banned girls from holding hands becasue it was 'inappropriate' and told one of my classmates after he was outed that it would be better for everyone if he left, no punishment to the people who threatened him. I spent so long as a teen being angry at myself for being gay because no one was there to teach me that it was perfectly natural and okay. They were fine giving me a demonstration of how to apply a condom to a cucumber but couldn't be bothered to say it was alright that I liked women.

Thank you so much for this - people want to ignore that this shit is still going on, and it's crucial that we keep a light shined on this kind of cruelty, erasure, and abuse.

school boards: be creative! be yourself! student: is gay school boards: no don't do that(the younger years are around)

I'm not done watching this but I got so damn pissed off at the "My Child My Choice" sign during the No Outsiders bit. Like your child is a real human person who COULD BE LGBT but you're treating them like an object

What I have never understood about the “it’s too confusing” argument, is that, surely, completely ignoring the fact that LGBT+ people exist will confuse LGBT+ kids who may be questioning their sexuality. If the only people and relationships that a child hears about are straight and cis, and then they begin to feel attraction to the same sex, or consider the fact that they might be the opposite sex, they will be even more confused, and feel even more alone.

i honestly don't remember getting education on lgbt+ issues in school until my second year of high school in the sex ed portion of my health class, but even then that was just "sex is a bit different for gay people" and then we moved on. i do remember, though, that in my first year of high school, a group of upperclassmen wanted to start a gsa. they went to the principal for approval and were denied for two reasons: 1) that there were no teachers willing to sponsor it (even though my theatre teacher say he would sponsor it in class on multiple occasions) 2) an actual quote from my principal: "(...) we don’t want to have anything where there’s bullying involved, and if you bring attention to that sort of thing, it’s going to create bullying." ah, yes, protect the children from the one space they could be in where they would Not be bullied for being gay.

[CN: Bullying/Suicide] I suffered so much homophobic and transphobic abuse that was so glossed over I didn’t even process it until recently when I rediscovered an old online storage account full of screenshots and journal entries. This started in 2003 when I joined secondary school all the way until I left, psychological and physical abuse just shrugged off. As much as it does get better I could have just as easily not survived any of numerous my suicide attempts, got pretty touch and go sometimes. We have a long way to go but I’m so grateful for the queer family I found in adulthood. I wouldn’t be here without them.

i think my school tries to be very progressive. it's an 'all girls school' so the teachers notice when someone is trans because he'll stick out like a sore thumb. They even taught a lesson on sexuality where they explained what words like 'pansexual' and 'asexual' was and how we think lgbtq+ people should be treated. However, they are completely powerless when it comes to the mental health of their queer students. I knew a guy who was severely depressed in year 7. At age 11. And who tried to kill himself at age 12. What did they do? Basically nothing. They took him out of lessons and asked him if he was 'alright' over and over until he got professional help outside of school They couldn't even use his correct pronouns.

Thank you so much for making this video 💕 As a trainee primary school teacher and a bisexual woman this really hit home for me...

The weirdest thing about 'not letting the kids know' for me is that plenty of kids are LGBTQ+? Even in the very short lesson we had in middle school, my teachers talked as if everyone was straight and cis. Also that lesson was so terrible and uninformative that I heard some kids chatting later asking if bisexual meant the same thing as transgender (I corrected them).

This video made me so angry. So, so angry. Angry for the LGBTQIAP+ people still being persecuted today. Angry toward the close-minded, paranoid persecutors. Angry at the injustice still burning today. But I'm glad I watched it. Because I was more informed than I was before.

I'm an openly gay secondary school teacher and I see first hand how much it can help both LGBT+ and hetero students to have an adult they trust to be upfront with them and not skirt around these sorts of issues. I can't fathom people who get in to education but want to pursue ignorance! Rowan, as ever you are superb :)

This was so informative and terrifying! My school is kinda weird- we had a music competition and my clas s chose the theme to be lgbt+ musicians but the school decided that was ‘too limiting’. BUT then on the night out headteacher said we were celebrating lgbt+ ppl and then OUTED one of the performers. It’s conflicting bc we’re being inclusive but it’s also humiliating bc it feels like it’s a slogan on a number sticker that shows off the school rather than really tackling the issue. Please maybe think about this kinda topic and I’d really wanna know you’re take on it as you’re so good at these kind of videos!

When I was a freshman in highschool (RC all male school) there was a sophomore who had been outed the year before, and he was still being brutally tormented. It's been 35 years, but I still remember those haunted eyes of his. Their tormenting of him sent me deep into the closet, and I lived in fear of the same happening to me. One of my greatest regrets in life is not having the courage to be his friend and stand up to those homophobic bullies.

I’m in 7th grade and this year was the first year any teacher has even mentioned homosexuality. It wasn’t in the curriculum, it was just my social studies teacher talking about his gay friend who was bullied as a kid but for some reason it just made me really happy, and I felt really seen in that moment. We also did the National Silence Day for kids in the LGBTQ+ community (I didn’t participate because my parents are homophobic and I was scared they’d find out, but i was glad to see how many people did). Other than that, though, we’ve never had any talk about same-sex relationships in school which kinda sucks but it’s much better than what other kids have gotten so I’m happy

"men hugging other men" since when is hugging sexual?

12:17 I mean in our school they blocked the word ‘girl’ being searched lol

I actually had a positive experience with a teacher. when me and my best friend can out as bi we would all make jokes about us being together (we weren't). we had a very small music class about 5 of us and from time to time we would laugh about it my teacher joined in one day and said honestly girls it would be so cute if you did just make sure I get an invite to the wedding. she was so supportive it was a real relief

My first full year teaching, I had a group of students that asked me about starting an LGBTQ club of some sort because of the amount of bullying taking place (which I tried to stop in my classroom, but at the same time would hear teachers outside my classroom allow students to use incredibly hateful anti-lgbtq slurs toward other students and didn't so much as cast a sideways glance at them for it). So I went to the head of our school to ask about maybe hosting a space for them to come have lunch away from the rest of their peers and discuss things with one another and I was refused. The reason I was given? "Well, we can't have a group like that at the school without having an alternative available." I asked, dumbfounded, what she felt would be an alternative to an LGBTQ support group, and she said "you know, like a Young Republicans group or something like that." I ended up just leaving the door to the art room open during lunch (their lunch room was right next door) and if students chose to stop by, totally unorganized of course, well then that's just a thing that happened. So glad I don't work for that school anymore.

My latin teacher will be open and honest with my class all the time. If someone asks about gay people or gay terms the teacher will do their best to answer. For this teacher school is a place for learning so if we have questions he will answer. And this could be about anything not just gay stuff. Of course if we don't have questions we'll learn latin

Ok, almost never post but, its story time. When I was in secondary school I had... issues. I had been disruptive, aggressive and bullied all through primary. Whilst the bullying continued I was still disruptive though less and less aggressive. I became the clown of the class yet was continually mocked and bullied. One teacher took notice and herself started talking to me occasionally in her office to try and calm me. My sexuality came up and I was struggling with it at the time. We didn't talk that time, we had to write notes to each other. Alone in her office. She shredded and burnt those notes afterwards. I think it was maybe the next year 28 was repealed.

I learnt about gay and bi issues from a friend in first and second year. I think I heard teachers mention homosexuality a grand total of 3 times in 7 years, all as offhand comments. Once, when talking about how the age of consent used to be different for same-sex couples, another was just in conversation when a teacher was trying to remember if an earring in the left or right ear was the "gay side", then my English teacher briefly mentioned that Siegfried Sassoon was a "practising homosexual" and didn't actually go on to explain to us confused 14 year olds what that bizarre phrasing was supposed to mean. I didn't learn the difference between trans people and drag artists until I was in sixth year for crying out loud. Education is an absolute necessity.

That AIDS quote left me the most appalled.

Once my friend was called out for doing a fairy tale essay about lesbian princesses. Now we are in this group project where we have to act a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and guess what? IT'S GONNA BE GAY. Revenge is so sweet. Wish us luck!

And I remembered one moment from the English lesson (as a second language) in my primary school when I was about 8, and there was a song in the text book with the word "guy" in it, and we misread it as "gay" and my teacher was shocked as if we were saying something explicit and asked us "Where did you learn this word?!". It's pretty sad, being told by someone considered an authority that the word "gay" is a dirty word

History teacher: "Today class we're going to learn about Alan Turing, a man whose work is often overlooked in favour of Big, Epic Battles but without which world war 2 would likely have lasted many years more." At the end of the lesson, student: "Excuse me, what happened to Turing after the war?" Teacher: "Ah. Well. Oh, hey, look over there *points out the barred window* a politician who knows the answer to the Brexit conundrum! *runs*"

I’m dutch and 19 and I’m so happy this wasn’t my experience. I can’t remember a concious effort to talk about sexuality (aside from one hour for a research project to test if that changed our views short term), but it wasn’t erased either. Also we had a gay and a lesbian teacher and I don’t remenber anyone being homophobic about that.

I found the "it gets better" message to be extremely irritating and patronizing. Did they even remember what it's like to be a teenager? Do they understand how important it is for people to be treated well in their formative years? I know that it was founded by a gay guy, but I don't care. "It gets better" is an empty platitude that does nothing help the situation in the present nor is it something that can be assured. Try telling "it gets better" to a guy who was outed and lost his job because of it.

I love how religious people say LGBT education is "endoctrination", but... isn't that what religious people actually do? endoctrinate...

Homophobia is even internalized in children nowadays. I'm only 16 and my classmates used to bully me when I was 9 or 10 (when I started questioning my sexuality). I was so afraid that I forgot that idea and tried to live as a straight person. We need to teach children about LGBT+ people if we don't want more cases like mine.

I will never forget the day, a few weeks after coming out, my drama teacher asked me to explain my bisexuality to her and to ultimately then have questioned and require stories of proof. Like educating teachers on the nuanced experiences of LGBTQIA issues is so crucial to this problem

when i was a baby (around six months old) i met my first lgbt people. they were the two moms of my best friend (who i still know today.) i distinctly remember as a child around seven thinking about how i have a dad and my friend doesn't, but my conclusion was simply "i have a mom and a dad and he has two moms;" i acknowledged that there was a difference but in my head it was as simple as something like "my favorite color is red and his is orange," and that was that. i was never 'confused' by the fact that these two women were parents. they just were. them being parents was just as valid as my straight parents were to me, and i never thought about it seriously until i was a teen and began realizing that i was lgbt too. basically, point being, children are in no way 'corrupted' or 'confused' by lgbt people. if lgbt people are introduced at a young age, that becomes the norm and, in fact, it is homophobia itself that is confusing (or at least that was my experience.)

I remember when I was in the 10th grade ( now 11th) my boyfriend at the time were doing what all high school couples do, just lightly making out. Around noon, I was called to the front office. I wasn't worried because I'm always the "good student". I went into my AP's office, and was shocked at what I saw. All four of our school's APs with scouls of disapproval, and my bf sitting across from them, tears running down his face. I sat down next to him; I could feel the tension in the small room. The APs explained our situation. A student had reported two other students were being "lewd and inappropriate" in the back hall stairway. They showed us security camera footage of us holding each other, giving innocent little pecks on each other's checks. Being the responsible person I am, I tried explaining that 1)we weren't in public view 2) we weren't being intense about it ( mostly because we were both new to this) and 3) I've seen other hetero couples do much worst in their field of vision. Their response was "Well, if you do want to argue about this, we could involve your parents in all of this". We were both petrified by the mear thought, they were fully aware that would be the end of our young lives. Our silence was a good enough answer. After leaving the office, and subsequently crying and self-blaming for 15 mins, we both agreed that our romantic relationship wasn't worth losing what little freedom we had. It still infuriates me when I see a couple going at it in the crowded hallway, knowing I could've had than...

Back in like 2011-2013 at my school's GSA, I heard one of our leaders: "I'm not a fan of 'it gets better'; I prefer 'you make it better'" We Make It Better.

I went to an all boys grammar, we had an assemble where the head of year told people to stop using "gay" as an insult because "it might make them think they're gay"...

The same thing is happening in Australia with the Safe Schools protests.

When I was a kid I had a bestfriend, we used to hold hands and sometimes kiss when we met. Kids used to bully us by telling us we were gay, and the only thing teachers taught us was to deny it. And I feel like denying it implies that it's just another bad word.

I know this is really late but the 'gay and lesbian content' ban is still in place in many places. For example, in my school no matter what age you are it is impossible to get on any website with even the words 'gay' or 'lgbt' included

I went to an international school in the UK (I'm originally from Canada) and this explains so much. We had teachers I knew were gay and even though it was like between 2005 and 2010 they did not talk about it, and we had zero sex ed. (We did read the Colour Purple, but that was it) We had the same homophobic blocking software on our computers - although since I was a big ol nerd and ran this school newspaper club, I wrote an article to the school on it and the issue was somewhat? addressed. Like it seemed like they went in and allowed a couple lgbt websites but then I'd keep stumbling into a lot that were still blocked. When we moved back to Canada in 2010 I had graduated but my sister entered junior high school and it was like night and day - in 2010 there, GSA and sex ed and all.

literally in every single lesson, by every single teacher, was lgbt+ issues ignored apart from with one history teacher and one english teacher. my history teacher made it VERY clear and was very passionate about informing us of the prosecution of LGBT folk by the nazis, and my english teacher was a gem and always brought up these topics if they related to the work. my sex education was always extremely cisnormative and heteronormative, as was the majority of my education

When I was called slurs at school, I had absolutely no idea what the words even meant. That's how much of a taboo the topic of homosexuality was. And this was Finland in the 90's. x'D

I can distincly remember an educational video that was shown in school when I was 9 that included gays and lesbians. it said something along the lines of "some men love men. some women love women. and that's completely okay". That was over 15 years ago. And isn't that wonderful?

Ok, when I was like 10 I learned what Homsexuality was, and then a few years later I started thinking thing like "wow this is really interesting, and theyre moving forward now, I'm glad I'm growing up in a big time of gay history" and then, two years later, I learned that I'm NOT growing up in the height of LGBT history. Its been happening for *years* but no one is ever taught it in schools.

When I was growing up, there was little coverage of lgbt+ connected issues in school. It came up like three times. Once during the literature classes, cause there is one book we have to read which characters are sometimes read as gay (and whole my class read it that way) and our teacher mention about it too, but she had no idea why would anyone read these characters as gay, and that was all from her side. The second time was during PE classes our teacher told us her daughter watched the video to Take me to church by Hozier and she was on the side that kids should not see things like that even under parental control, and my class tried to explain her whole poetics and sens of thay video. Third time was during our last year, in my country we have a one special dance that starts the prom and we were practising it on PE. My school had a majority of girls, so I and my gf at the time thought we could end up dancing together, but at one time our teachers said that how disgusting it would look if the girl danced with anouther girl. We opted out from dancing in any way with the support of the most of our class. As it can already be seen my classmates were amazingly supporting (not everyone, but the majority) in contrast to teachers. During my first year at high school, I was not outed yet (cause my gf at the time didn't want anyone to know), but there started spreading rumours that I'm a lesbian. Somehow it reached our head teacher. She talked to my mom that I "acted indecently at school" - just by being gay and talking to my gf during breaks. That teacher outed me out before my parents and we still can't get on good terms about my sexuality (lately my parents are in denial of me being gay) Now I'm at university and I thought about being a teacher myself. During a Pedagogy course, everyone needed to make speeches about issues connected to the school. I spoke up about lgbt+ students, mostly about how schools in my country don't have any clear policy, though we have massive homophobia and high suicidal rates for lgbt teenagers. My prof nearly didn't let me speak and had an opinion that such a agenda shouldn't be forced on kids "but *he laughed trying to seem nice* maybe it's only generation thing that he can't understand these issues". For somehow positive note, lately in my country some schools started to take part in an annual event called Rainbow Friday. It is meant to create the space in school to talk about lgbt+ in school and to let lgbt+ students know that they are welcome in school and the school has their back. It is such a beautiful event, but right now my country is ruled by a conservative, Catholic party which on many occasion spreads homophobia, so the list of the schools that took part in it is secret to avoid repercussion. But the event had really bad coverage on media, that so many "liberal" people started to wonder should such an event be held if it causes such a big outburst of homophobia in media.

"men hugging other men" oh no the horror 😂

You're amazing and a true inspiration! Love your channel! ❤️

I remember there was a trans woman in school being ridiculed behind her back. One time, I overheard a teacher ask a groups of lads ridiculing her "What's the story with *deadname* ". At no point did he stick up for her at the slightest, though all he did was nod, "hmm" and continued into class. In school, lgbt was rarely talked about, except for in English class, thanks to Elizabeth Bishop and Gerard Manley Hopkins. They didn't shy away from answering questions but it was never properly taught and I left RSE class with just a notion of 'I *probably* should wear a condom to avoid STDs'.

So i live in Italy where there is a lot of fearmongering about "gender" being forced upon our children, just like in the uk. Speaking as my personal experience, discussion about lgbt+ themes never showed up in school until high school. When I was in my second/third year we had a lot of debates in religion class about same sex marriages and adoptions, as same sex civil unions were being legalized. My religion teacher always mixed up stuff, basically implying that after gay marriages there will come gay adoption and then school will force children not to call their parents mum and dad but "parent 1" and "parent 2" and then a new gender neutral pronoun will be forced on everyone to deny sex differences like in Sweden. So basically those lessons were exhausting because you colud try to argue but she never answered seriously and of course she wasn't homophobic because she has gay friends. What bothers me the most in retrospect is that these teachers never think about how they might have lgbt+ students (or questioning ones. I started questioning later and i never cared for what she said but maybe someone more keen on religion might have). In the long run, as I have other lgbt+ or generally supportive classmates you learn to handle it and expect it from certain professors (like my latin teacher who once argued that Sappho was straight, but still had to admit that Catullus was pretty "ecumenic", ie he was bi like... most romans). It still hurts though when it comes from unexpected teachers.

The most telling thing for me about the state of the UK's LGBTQ education is that in retrospect I didn't have ANY experience in high school with LGBTQ issues on an academic level, it didn't seem very exclusionary to me until I realised that it was the lack thereof that was exclusionary. We had sex-ed lessons and the sort but they only ever focused on heterosexual relationships and there wasn't even a passing mention of even homosexual relationships. Only when I realised that my own sexuality was outside of the realm that people around me considered "normal" did it sink in that school really hadn't told me about anything outside of the heteronormative status quo. Gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary people don't just suddenly pop into existence, they realise it early on in their life and as an already emotionally confused teenager I was left to navigate the waters of how people would view me up on discovering my sexuality almost entirely on my own. It took me a good two to three years (from about the age of 13 onwards) to realise that there wasn't anything wrong with me for being attracted to more than one gender. There was never any lesson or module that highlighted to the students around me that there are people who identify as things other than straight and that it's completely normal. I've been fairly fortunate to have mostly been confronted by people who are initially wary but fairly quickly realise that nothing really changes, but I can imagine that many people my age can't say the same. It's so infuriating to be temporarily heartened by countrywide initiatives finally including LGBTQ topics and then almost immediately crushed by the now expected reaction of the more conservative and traditionalist people in the country. I can only hope that gradually we can extinguish the torch that is passed between generations.

My parents were religious ,mother just stood by as my father beat me to a near inch of my life! Because I couldn't help my own nature. I fell in love with another girl at the age of five,she was my angel. I fought my self and became verry angry all the time,by high school I was trying to kill my self. Near prom I culd not take anymore. I came out for the first time to my two best friends. Our school had no program to help us . We helped each other. On a happy note I when to prom with a fellow bi. 🦄🦄

Thank you. This video is so important. I was outed at school as a teenager and the experience was so bad that I didn’t come out until I was 19 and at uni. I’ve heard so many stories from people about their school experience and really we are still stuck in a legacy from section 28 where teachers are not confident or knowledgeable enough to tackle anti lgbt feeling. I qualify as a teacher in June. I’m looking forward to start a pride group in my school in Birmingham (it’s already been approved) and I have been asked to go and run a session on lgbt+ inclusion for next year’s trainees. So although it is still bad out there, know that there are lots of educators trying to make a change.

when i was in 8th grade i had lesbian schoolmates. they were dating, once when they had a short kiss in the hallway (nothing that should be kept behind close doors, just a kiss) they were dragged in the principals office and banned from the school for one week because the school leadership found the behaviour inapropoirate for school. on the other hand there were things straight couples were doing and they got away with it that i wont describe

During my university years I worked as a part time nanny. I talked with the kids always very open about everything (a boy (5 when I first met him) n a girl (6 when I first met her)). They akses me where children's come from n question about war n the universe n religion. N naturally I also talked about love n identities. When I explained to these 2 kids (6 n 7 at that time) that they are free to love whomever, that it might be a boy or a girl or smn who is neither or both or used to be one or the other , they just...got it. They weren't confused at all. If anything they were really excited about it? I had to especially chuckle when the girl said "oh goodie, cause boys are gross!". I explained that this opinion of hers might change with age or not. But as she can love whoever she likes and she can be whoever she likes.

I had a lesbian bio teacher and long story short my friends who didn't have her and friends at other schools were either confused as to why she taught us what dental dams were or didn't know they existed and I am so glad she taught us about safe sex between women in addition to the rest of the curriculum because that's incredibly rare even though i'm from a very liberal area

This is a great video, and I think you gave a good overview of the history here. It reminds me of how the sex education classes in my school somehow never once managed to mention any differences there might be for LGBT people, and if you managed to pluck up the courage to ask them about it later they would just look at you in total bafflement. One thing I think you missed out on though, is the place of transphobia in a lot of this modern anti-LGBT rhetoric. Lots of conservative people who want to roll back the progress we've made as a community have been using transphobia as their 'in', using transphobic language in just the same way as they used to with homophobia publicly, and that's something I think is worth mentioning.

watching this in 2022 is a new level of heartbreaking. Because what you said would happen is happening. Once again, children feel unsafe talking about these issues in certain states (looking at you Florida) without fear of being outed or kicked out of their homes just because of who they love or who they are on the inside. Banning LGBTQ education and lessons due to the fact it's apparently "inappropriate" or "indoctrinating our children to be gay/trans." In some places, we truly are going backwards. But just remember, those who push back against us are becoming fewer and fewer in number. In reality, it's only the minority that are screaming and shouting to take our rights away, which unfortunately happen to be the congressmen/women/people. We have more power than we realize! Keep fighting and standing up for yourselves, because this is far from over!

Two extensive studies published in the October 1999 issue of American Medical Association Archives of General Psychiatry confirmed the existence of a strong link between homosexuality and suicide, as well as other mental and emotional problems. Youth who identify themselves as homosexual, lesbian and bisexual are four times more likely than their peers to suffer from major depression; three times more likely to suffer anxiety disorders, four times more likely to suffer conduct disorders, six times more likely to suffer from multiple disorders and more than six times more likely to have attempted suicide.

Positive is I'm glad my teen section of my local public libraries had many gay and lesbian books, acknowledging that many teens are unsure of their sexuality and unaware of the history of LGBT+ issues, and many of us didn't have supportive parents at home so the library was a safe place to learn stuff like that on our own in a self-directed way if we didn't have supportive parents or teachers. Thanks librarians!

Thank you for this video! As a lesbian and a future teacher I have been thinking about these thing a lot lately. I still haven't decided wether I should come out to my students or just stay quiet about my sexuality. I hope things work out fine after I graduate and get a job. I don't want to hide but I also don't want angry parents yelling at me or getting fired.

I had a great experience in my school with sex education classes, but I know that wasn’t the same experience for kids even in the same year at the same school. I had a teacher who was very open and gave us an A4 sheet of paper with a list of LGBT terms on it (admittedly some were outdated) and in pairs we filled out what each one meant and then went over it as a class and had a discussion. And homophobic comments were not accepted by her. Unfortunately she was not the only teacher to take sex ed classes and I know this wasn’t the format expected by my school. Other classes were not as comprehensive. I had a lot of very cool teachers though who would leave great comments on my creative writing homework that pretty much always featured gay people, would always reprimand kids who made homophobic comments, and who would (very helpfully) bring up comments about same sex attraction when I was struggling with mental health, although for very different reasons. I may not have been in desperate need of those comments because I was pretty happy with that part of myself, but it gives me a lot of comfort to know that there may have been other kids in my school who did really need it who were in safe hands. It’s so achingly sad to know that there are still other young kids out there who don’t get the treatment that I did in school. I hope we can change it soon.

I remember in high school, it was my senior year and we had a day where it was a small class. So my English teacher had us do a little visualization and afterwards I talked about what I had seen for mine. Then I later came out to her as a couple of my friends and I were hanging out in her classroom after school. She said that she was tipped off by the visualization thing we had did when I told her mine. It was very nice and made me feel so happy to be accepted by someone I had come to look up to. She was not a member of the community but having that knowledge that it was ok to be me by someone who only knew me in as a student was so validating. That last year was also when I made some of my closest friends who helped me realize my identity and were so supportive of it and still are with me today. I live in Illinois and if people against the bill being passed here are able to put in that clause about allowing parents to pull their students from these lessons, their kids will definitely miss an opportunity to feel accepted if they are a part of the community and will definitely feel alienated and unaccepted. Thank you for the amazing video.

This video highlights something very important: The fight for acceptance is not yet over. We need to be vigilant and not allow ourselves to slip back into the dark. This is why LGBT representation is so important in our media, the LGBT youth of today need to know that they are valid, and that they have a right to exist.