(UK) - In a speech to the gay rights organisation Stonewall, Kevin Brennan, the new Children’s Minister, will say that schools have a clear and urgent obligation to end the widespread use of homophobic language as supposedly “harmless banter”. His comments follow recent research by the Schools Health Education Unit suggesting that half of teachers fail to respond to homophobic language when they hear it. He will make clear that such language should be viewed in the same way as racist abuse and punished accordingly. He particularly wanted schools to get tough on the use of the word “gay” as a synonym for “uncool” or “bad”. This, he said, contributed to a culture that could be threatening or uncomfortable for gay and lesbian pupils.
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