Schools impelled to promote positive images of gay families

Schools are being urged to clampdown on homophobic bullying and promote positive images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in lessons.

The call came from campaign group Speak Out after a survey of 750 teachers in the Greater Manchester area revealed that 87 per cent had heard or seen homophobic abuse in their school.

The Greater Manchester Prevalence of Homophobia Report 2012, carried out by the National Union of Teachers and sponsored by Speak Out, found that half of teachers see or hear homophobic abuse on a weekly basis.

Nearly all those surveyed (97 per cent) want to see schools clampdown on homophobia, but only 77 per cent said their school was doing so. A similar proportion (72 per cent) called for specific training to deal with homophobia in their classroom.

The survey also revealed that 14 per cent of teachers were subjected to homophobic abuse during the last school year.

A spokeswoman for Speak Out said: