Plans to open a specialist state school for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils struggling in the mainstream education system have been criticised by Stonewall, the gay rights group.
The charity behind the scheme, LGBT Youth North West has been awarded £63,000 to conduct a feasibility study into the school, which would be based in the centre of Manchester and accept 40 full-time students.
But Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall, said she did not see a specialist school as the answer to solving the difficulties faced by some young gay people. “We know that LGBT students still experience bullying and harassment. That needs to change,” she said.
“While we’re sympathetic to the aims and objectives of LGBT-only schools, we don’t see them as the answer.
“Our experience working with more than 12,000 schools across the country shows that it is possible to create safe and inclusive environments where all pupils can be themselves. This makes the learning environment better for all students – regardless of their sexual orientation – and is the key to eradicating homophobia in every single school in Britain.”
Manchester city council also clarified its position on the plans.
Councillor Sheila Newman, executive member for children’s services, said: “We fully support initiatives to support LGBT young people and to tackle homophobia in schools and wider society. We don’t support, however – and haven’t supported – the setting up of a separate school for LGBT young people.
“Schools should be inclusive supportive places for all pupils regardless of their sexuality,” she said.
The plans were also criticised by Tory MP and former education minister, Tim Loughton. He said: “We need to do a lot more to combat homophobic bullying and to create a more tolerant society but I cannot see how segregating a group of young people identified by their sexuality can aid better engagement and understanding.
“The way to achieve more integration, understanding and empathy is not by segregating members of one group, and this would seem to me to be a step backwards from achieving tolerance.”
Paul Nuttall, Ukip MEP and deputy leader and education spokesman for the party, said: “This idea does nothing but foster division. At a time that successive governments have closed all but a few special schools, why this sudden exception, if not for reasons of political correctness? Integration is the key to understanding, and it is utterly bizarre to be taking a step that highlights differences and adds nothing of value to a child’s education.”
Amelia Lee, strategic director of LGBT Youth North West, told the Guardian on Thursday that the school is about saving lives.
“Despite the laws that claim to protect gay people from homophobic bullying, the truth is that in schools especially, bullying is still incredibly common and causes young people to feel isolated and alienated, which often leads to truanting and, in the worst-case scenarios, to suicide.”
