LGBT Inclusive Education Parentzone Draft  

Page location: Curriculum in Scotland | Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland 

What is LGBT Inclusive Education?   

LGBT inclusive education benefits everyone by creating a safe and supportive environment for all learners, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender. This approach integrates LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people and history into Scotland’s curriculum, addressing past exclusion and underrepresentation. It helps learners see LGBT people as equal members of society and ensures LGBT young people feel included in their education.

It also equips schools to tackle prejudice and bullying faced by LGBT students, those perceived to be LGBT, or those with LGBT family members. Homophobia in particular remains a common form of prejudice experienced by children and young people at school.

By raising awareness and fostering respect for the diversity within Scotland’s communities, it encourages young people to view everyone as equal. Promoting respect for differences helps build empathy and prevent bullying. This approach aligns with how educators address other forms of inclusion, such as race, disability, gender, and religion.

LGBT inclusive education links closely to children’s rights in Scotland, including freedom from discrimination, the right to education, and the right to be heard. LGBT inclusive education and the United Nation’s Conventions on the Rights of the Child work hand in hand to promote equality, safety, and inclusion, ensuring children’s rights are protected and respected.  

LGBT inclusive education is suitable for the age and stage of children and is part of everyday teaching. What is taught at primary school is different to secondary. How this looks in practice will be decided by the school, examples might include:

• In the early primary, a story time book read throughout the year features a family with two mums or two dads.
• An explanation of prejudice and discrimination may be introduced in upper primary school.
• At secondary school, social subjects might include learning about equality in more depth, such as the history of LGBT equality movements.
• At secondary school, books or plays might include LGBT characters, themes or be written by LGBT authors.

Time for Inclusive Education (TIE)

TIE is Scotland’s LGBT Inclusive Education charity. They address prejudice-based bullying through an educational approach. TIE’s free national programme, ‘Delivering LGBT Inclusive Education’ focuses on supporting teachers to create an LGBT inclusive curriculum. Funded by the Scottish Government, the professional learning programme has been delivered for 3 years.

All of TIE’s nationally endorsed resources are available to view through the Scottish Government’s lgbteducation.scot platform.  

Ending Conversion Practices

Conversion practices refer to any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Being LGBTQ+ is not something that can or should be changed or suppressed. Nobody should be forced to change or hide who they are to be accepted.

In response to ongoing work to raise awareness of conversion practices, YoungScot has drawn together this new resource: Conversion Practices and Where to Get Support – Young Scot. The resource highlights what conversion practices are, how to identify behaviours of conversion practices and outlines what to do if you, or someone you know, is experiencing conversion practices.

Where to get support

• LGBT Health and Wellbeing have a dedicated support line where you can get support.
• Phone: 0800 464 7000
• Livechat on their website during opening hours
• You can also send them an email at: helpline@lgbthealth.org.uk
• Further information from LGBT Health and Wellbeing for anyone that is supporting or may come into contact with someone undergoing or having experiencedconversion practices can be found here.

How can I get involved?

As a parent or carer, getting involved with your child’s learning can make an enormous difference. If you’d like to know more about getting involved with your child’s learning please follow this link. If you’d like to help your child’s school get started with LGBT inclusive education please follow this link.

If your child is experiencing bullying behaviour at school, Scotland’s anti-bullying service respectme has provided information about what support is available.