Sexual and gender equality is far from a given in modern Britain – we must change that

As a movement we can always be proud of the transformative changes the last Labour government made to make Britain a fairer, more equal country – one where who you loved was irrelevant to the respect you received from the state. Yet despite our achievements, sexual and gender equality is far from a given in modern Britain. We should always remember that growing up Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) in Britain is tough; that discrimination still happens in the workplace; and that LGBT couples often have to think twice about walking down the street holding hands. If the battle for the last Labour government was changing laws, the battle for the next one is the far harder task of changing hearts and minds.

This begins – as then – in the classroom. Because of all the advances for equality enacted by the last Labour government, the repeal of Section 28 was perhaps the most important. The chilling effect of this pernicious legislation left teachers unable to discuss LGBT issues in the classroom and ill-equipped to tackle prejudice-based bullying. However, despite this landmark reform, the stain of homophobic bullying remains in too many of our schools. Make no mistake:  growing up lesbian gay, bisexual or trans in this country can be hellish.  Stonewall’s statistics  on the levels of homophobic bullying and the pervasive normality of homophobic language in schools are truly shocking. And the statistics on mental health challenges faced by LGBT young people as a result of bullying should serve as a wake-up call to us all.

This has to change. We need to see an approach to sex and relationship education that is fit for the 21^st century – one that deals with modern challenges about respect, proper sexual consent, sexual health, grooming, cyber-bullying and pornography. Crucially, this must also include substantive discussion of same sex relationships with the issue of same-sex parenting a key part of that. After all, a great education means no child being closed off from the world beyond their street. And that means all schools – maintained, faith and academy – have a responsibility to prepare their pupils for life in modern Britain. That’s what teaching British values means to me.

Because the Britain I want to live in is one where someone’s sexuality is seen as irrelevant to the role they play in society. Yet we won’t get this Britain unless we start championing LGBT role models. This month is LGBT history month and I am calling upon teachers to use it to teach our young people about inspirational LGBT individuals, whether that be Alun Turing, Virginia Woolf or Sophie Wilson – the trans woman who designed the Acorn Computer that revolutionised computing education.

This Britain also depends upon teachers acting upon their responsibilities to tackle bigotry. Children need to know that the use of the word ‘gay’ as an insult or a pejorative isn’t just ‘banter’ – this is not, as John Humphreys recently suggested on the Today Programme, ‘kids being kids’. Words like ‘faggot’ must come to be seen as anachronistic as the racial slurs of the past. Labour will back teachers with the support and training they need to challenge this playground prejudice.

But we need to support LGBT teachers too. Energy spent worrying about their sexuality – the reaction from pupils or colleagues, the impact it will have on their career chances – is energy diverted away from passing on a love of learning. Stress to do with their sexuality or gender identity is not only bad for them but bad for their pupils too. Moreover, tackling homophobic bullying is important for the achievement of all pupils, not just LGBT students.  A school that fails to show the leadership necessary to tackle LGBT bullying is almost certainly failing in other areas too.

A great education system should inspire its young people with the ethic that hard-work and dedication will allow them to achieve all their aspirations. It is this simple idea which gives education its emancipatory power and from William Lovett’s Chartist Schools to Andrew Adonis’s Sponsored Academies, we in the Labour Movement have long placed our faith in its ability to spread freedom and opportunity to all. But the freedoms bestowed by education should be universal and inclusive. No young person should ever feel that their sexuality or gender identity prevents them from fulfilling their potential. For this reason the pursuit of sexual and gender equality is a both a moral duty and an economic necessity. We simply can’t afford to alienate young people from the pursuit of excellence just for being themselves.  That’s why tackling homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying will be a priority for the next Labour government.

Tristram Hunt MP is Shadow Education Secretary