The LGBT+ young people’s charity have launched free faith inclusive resources to combat this issue
BY GEORGIA DIMDORE-MILES, IMAGE BY JUST LIKE US
In a new study with 7,000 teachers Just Like Us, the young people’s LGBT+ charity has found that a third of teachers (30%) say faith has been a barrier to discussing LGBTQIA topics in school.
In faith schools, these numbers increased further, with 46% of teachers feeling that faith was a barrier to talking about LGBTQIA topics, compared to 25% at non-faith schools.
The results also found that the more experienced a teacher is, the less likely they are to see faith as a barrier to LGBTQIA inclusion. Just 3% of headteachers said that faith has always been a barrier to discussing LGBTQIA topics.
Just Like Us’ research was carried out independently by Teacher Tapp, surveying 7,407 primary and secondary school teachers across the UK in February 2023.
Amy Ashenden, interim CEO of Just Like Us, said: “Our research shows that a third of teachers feel that faith can be a barrier to LGBT+ inclusion, but this is most likely because there have never been enough LGBT+ and faith specific school resources needed to even broach this topic. We’ve launched this new series of resources to change that.”
The new series of LGBTQIA faith inclusive resources for Catholic, Anglican, Muslim and Jewish schools can be downloaded for free by signing up for School Diversity Week. The resources include assemblies and videos for primary and secondary faith schools.
School Diversity Week 2023 will take place from 26 – 30 June.
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