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Gay News: A London school has "more or less eliminated" homophobic bullying with lessons about gay historical figures.
Alan Turing
History lessons "eliminate" homophobic bullying
History lessons at Stoke Newington secondary school in North London now include the lives of famous homosexuals including wartime code breaker Alan Turing, authors Oscar Wilde and James Baldwin, and artist Andy Warhol.
The history course is the brainchild of music teacher Ely Barnes who was concerned by the appropriation of the word “gay” as an insult.
Together with colleagues she devised the project which she now hopes to roll out to train hundreds of teacher how to “educate and celebrate” being gay.
“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 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 item. Now we hardly hear it.”
A 2007 poll by gay charity Stonewall found that 65 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual students had been bullied for their sexuality.
