Some schools in Northern Ireland are teaching pupils that homosexuality is wrong, a new report says. An investigation by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission into relationships and sex education (RSE) provision found that a third of post-primary schools would use lessons to state that "heterosexual relationships was the 'main' or 'ideal' context for sexual intimacy".
One school even told the commission that "the belief that homosexual acts are against the nature and purpose of human relationships will be presented to pupils". The report says: "Actively promoting heterosexuality as the ideal in... RSE curriculum content contributes to the marginalisation and stigmatisation of non-heterosexual identities and experiences."
The report also says: "Most schools either explicitly or implicitly promoted heteronormativity in their RSE policies. Approximately one third of schools explicitly stated that their school would teach pupils that heterosexual relationships was the “main” or “ideal” context for sexual intimacy, with one school stating that it was “the most desirable option for a person’s psychological development”. Some schools even outline their beliefs that “homosexuality” is wrong."
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The commission found that most schools - more than 80% - claimed to support inclusion and diversity in their lessons. But the report goes on to say: "Despite claiming to uphold these notions of inclusivity and diversity, we found that schools often contradicted these values in various ways. First, many schools promoted and protected pupils’ rights to holding “diverging opinions” and used the notion of ‘tolerance’ rather than rights.
"These statements often came directly after schools’ statements about remaining inclusive to different sexual orientations, gender identities and family structures—implying that young people are permitted to hold prejudiced opinions towards people of different sexual orientations and gender identities, so long as they are held in a “peaceful manner”."
June is Pride Month, celebrated each year to honour the Stonewall riots of 1969 and the ongoing work to improve rights for the LGBTQIA+ community. A Police Service of Northern Ireland report published last month said homophobic incidents "tend to reach a peak between May and September" while lower levels "tend to be seen between October and February".
The PSNI report said that between April 2022 and the end of March this year, 435 homophobic incidents were recorded by the force. It said that although this represented a decrease, following a sharp increase in the number of incidents linked to homophobia between 2020 and 2022, "both incidents and crimes recorded their second highest levels since the data series began in 2004/05".
Aisling Playford, policy manager of The Rainbow Project, an organisation that helps LGBTQIA+ people and their families, said the figures were "disappointing". She added: "We still have no ban on conversion therapy here in Northern Ireland. We see issues in regards to the experiences of intersectionality within the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically those who are from an ethnic minority background with a rise in hate crime in terms of racism.
"It’s so important that we see the Northern Ireland assembly back up and running, that we see these key pieces of legislation such the LGBTQIA+ strategy, and the ban of conversion therapy."
Aisling also said: "We work quite closely with the PSNI, we work with the PPS, we work with the Department of Justice, we work with the Equality Commission to make sure we are doing as much as we can and to make sure Northern Ireland is a safe and inclusive place to be as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
"When it comes to hate crime, domestic abuse and homelessness we highlight the levels of discrimination and harassment that members of our community experience whether that is in regards to disability, mental health, in regards to their race or nationality which can lead to greater vulnerability in regards to experiencing crime."
The Rainbow Project has two centres based in Belfast City and Derry City, and was set up in 1994 amid rising concern about the spread of HIV within the gay male population throughout Northern Ireland. Visit the charity's website for more information.
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