should section 28 be repealed

Should Section 28 Be Repealed?
Recently, I noticed a petition in my local church that was to be sent to
Donald Dewar opposing the repeal of section 28, which bans the
promotion of homosexuality in schools. Many people did not want their
children and grandchildren to know anything about homosexuality. This
made me think, should homosexuality be taught in Scottish schools?
The response to section 28 has been very different in different parts of
the country. Section 28 has never been used in court to stop a local
authority doing anything. Although some local authorities have gone
ahead and produced documents in partnership with organisations such as
Stonewall youth project to support young lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender pupils, others have taken the opposite view. Perth and
Kinross council refused to give a grant to Dundee Lesbian, Gay and
Bisexual Switchboard, specifically citing section 28 as a reason for not
giving a grant. Authorities' responses have been different because section
28 is badly worded and, legally, does not mean anything at all; its only
effect is to act as a disincentive. Section 28 does not directly affect
schools or teachers, just local authorities. Nevertheless, according to the
"Playing it Safe" survey by the University of London, 56% of teachers
surveyed said that they felt that section 28 prevented them from giving
such good advice and support to young lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils
as they might otherwise be able to give. Young LGBT people do not
have equal opportunities in education at the moment, neither in schools
nor in college environments. The biggest single problem for young
people, if you ask them, is that of bullying and harassment. It is
something that affects LGBT pupils directly, but other people too.
Anybody can be homophobically bullied - they do not have to be gay to
be a victim of that. Bullying and harassment also affects people who
have not come out as being gay. The effect on someone who has not
come out in an environment where homophobic bullying is going on all
the time is to make him or her terrified about telling anyone that they are

gay. One of the particular LGBT equality issues most often mentioned is
an understanding of the importance of coming out. Coming out is a
life-changing event for a young person, and it is very important that
school staff understands the implications and can give support to people
who are doing it or thinking about doing it. Bullying and harassment has
a very bad effect on those peoples self-esteem, as well as on that of
people who are directly bullied. The bullying of pupils by pupils is the
most common kind, but pupils are still harassed by staff and staff can
also be harassed by pupils or by other staff. Harassment also affects
people's educational attainment, because they stop learning if they are
being bullied at school. Often they leave school as early as possible to
get out of that environment. However, bullying and harassment are not
the only problems. There is a lack of awareness among staff about what
it means to be gay. A lot of staff focus purely on the issue of sex and
think that being gay is all about sex, whereas, of course, it is not,
especially for young people. Emotional and relationship issues will be
much more important. Confidentiality policies are not clear, so young
people do not feel confident enough to approach staff and discuss
concerns about their sexual orientation. Also homosexuality tends to be
invisible, for example in curriculum and library materials. There is no
recognition that not only may pupils be gay, but so may other members
of their families.
On the other hand, there is a growing fear that teaching children about
homosexuality is the same as teaching them how to be gay, which is
impossible, but parents are panicking. There is a lot of fear about what
section 28 means, and that is the real problem. Many parents are alarmed
at the prospect of homosexuality being promoted in our schools. Ms
Wendy Alexander, Community Minister, says " They can rest assured
that it is not the intention of the Executive actively to promote
homosexuality. Removing the prohibition is not the same as active

promotion." It is reasonable for any parent to be concerned about exactly
what their children are being told at school, of course many people are
homophobic and believe that homosexuality is blasphemous. The most
commonly heard argument against homosexuality is a quote from the
bible: "And God proceeded to create the man in his image, male and
female he created them. Further God blessed them, and God said to
them, be fruitful and become many, and fill the earth and subdue it
(Genesis 1:27-28)." (Often shortened to, "God created Adam and Eve,
not Adam and Steve.") The passage does not say that God created man
and man. Teaching homosexuality in schools could go against many
people's religions and beliefs. However, not everyone is Christian and
there is the added conflict between religion and science. Clearly it is not
possible to agree with my local community's petition. I hope to have
given a reasonable argument to why I believe that section 28 should be
repealed and children, at a sensible age, should be properly informed
about homosexuality, in order to raise awareness and lessen homophobic
bullying in schools.