Minister says she ‘should have done more' to protect LGBT+ students in the 1980s
An equalities minister has said she 'should have done more' to protect pupils who faced discrimination due to their sexuality during her time as a secondary school teacher.
Dame Nia Griffith said she feared losing her job as a teacher in the 1980s if she called out discriminatory language because of legislation at the time which prevented intentional promotion of homosexuality.
Dame Nia said: 'I did not protect those pupils who were the object of such comments in the way that they should have been protected. I should have done more.'
Speaking in the Commons, Dame Nia, who came out publicly as a lesbian in 2016, said coming out to family or classmates is still 'challenging and scary' for those in the LGBT+ community.
Opening a debate on LGBT+ history month, she said: 'Before entering into politics, I was by profession a comprehensive school teacher.
'But back in the 80s, section 28 – introduced into law by the then-Conservative government – banned the promotion of homosexuality or the teaching, in any maintained school, of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.
'In the classroom, if a pupil was verbally being hateful or discriminatory towards one of their peers, I did not want it to go unchallenged but found myself just telling them not to use such language, or risk upsetting someone.
'Anything more explicit could potentially be promoting homosexuality, and breaking the law, and risked me losing my job.
'I did not protect those pupils who were the object of such comments in the way that they should have been protected. I should have done more.
'Today, the notion that an LGBT+ family is pretend is absurd to most. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to find same-sex parents picking up their children from school.'
Intervening, Labour MP Sarah Owen (Luton North) said: 'I appreciate the minister's apology, but to have taken such a stance would have meant she would have lost her job.
'And I think although we can always reflect, and always do better in hindsight, we have to be kind to ourselves and give ourselves the space to be able to see that grace in ourselves as well.'
Dame Nia, Labour MP for Llanelli, replied: 'Well, I thank (Ms Owen) for her very kind comments on the issue.
'But even today, it does not mean that there are no challenges. Coming out, particularly to family or classmates is still challenging and scary, with all the worry of how that might be perceived, and the fear of bullying.
'In 2018, the previous government introduced LGBT+ people into the RSHE (relationships, sex and health education) curriculum. The reality of diverse family types would – in stark contrast to section 28 – be taught as a fact of life in modern Britain.'
Concluding her speech, Dame Nia said that 'as part of the LGBT+ community myself' it was a 'privilege' to have opened the debate.
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