With a General Election due next year, Peter Tatchell has laid out his LGBTI manifesto for any incoming government to address. While acknowledging the improvements in our rights since 1999, Tatchell highlights 12 examples of discrimination regarding LGBTI people. Furthermore, 4 out of the 12 examples concern what happens in our schools. The 12 examples are:
- The continuance of unchallenged homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in many schools
- The exemption of faith schools from curriculum guidelines; allowing them to continue to teach sex and relationship education in accordance with their religious values, which often state that homosexuality is sinful, immoral, abnormal, unnatural and inferior.
- Safer sex information focuses on heterosexual relationships, to the neglect of same-sex ones.
- There is no mandatory training in equality and diversity in schools.
- The Equality Act 2010 protects against harassment, except on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- The government and the National Blood Service have a ban on blood donations from any man who has had oral or anal sex with another man within the preceding 12 months – even if they always use a condom and now test HIV-negative for both the antigen and antibodies.
- We now have two separate marriage laws: the 1949 Act for opposite-sex couples and the 2013 Act for same-sex couples.
- Opposite-sex couples are still banned from civil partnerships.
- LGBTI refugees are expected to ‘prove’ their sexual orientation
- There is widespread regional inconsistency on homophobic hate crime.
- Record stores and radio stations still promote CDs by violently homophobic reggae singers who openly advocate the murder of queers.
- Islamist ‘hate’ preachers also often escape prosecution when they incite the killing of LGBTIs