That’s the verdict of the Global Alliance for LGBTI Education (GALE), a worldwide group campaigning for LGBTI people in education, on the state of education for LGBT people in Britain.
Released on IDAHOBIT May the 17th, GALE’s research and world map puts Australia, Ireland, Austria, Belgium and Malta ahead of Britain. The research looks into the level of pro-activity in supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) and “Disadvantaged because of their Expression of Sexual Preference Or Gendered Identity” (DESPOGI) people and in education, so successful nations not only have inclusive policies, but they pilot projects and the formation of alliances as well as measuring their social impact.
Nations that practise the above are described as Supportive states. Although britain falls behind ireland and others it falls within the Supported states. Nations that are committed to inclusion but where good practice is found on an ad-hoc basis and is largely dependent on the work of LGBT campaign groups are described as Ambiguous states. Nations where LGBT/DESPOGI expression is suppressed are described as Denying States.
Of the 55% of stated worldwide where research was possible, GALE found 9.5% supportive, 21% ambiguous and 24% denying.
Surprising perhaps is the presence of Malta in the most supportive group and Germany and the USA in the ambiguous group, behind Albania, which is way ahead of other former Eastern European states. Spain falls just into the denying category. This is contrary to what one might have expected given wider legislation supporting LGBT rights.
Less surprising is the three states that came in at the bottom: Iraq, Afghanistan and Liberia.
GALE is continuing the research and hopes to cover all the nations in the world in time. To see the current map go here