Stonewall Release New Guide On Supporting LGBT Youth

One of the biggest problems we hear about is the lack of support that young lesbian, gay and bisexual people feel they have, so we’re very happy to announce the release of Stonewall’s latest guide aimed at educating youth and education staff on how to support lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people.

Put together to help those who work with LGB youth, or want to help enable them to grow and learn in a safe and supportive environment, this second guide from a series focusing on education looks at the different specific aspects of tackling homophobic bullying, offers practical recommendations about how to show LGB young people that they can be themselves, as well as including real life experiences of gay young people and case studies from schools and youth projects.

Speaking about the guides, Chris Gibbons, Stonewall Senior Education Officer, said:

“Most young people tell Stonewall that they realise they’re lesbian, gay or bisexual when they’re 12 or 13. But many don’t tell anyone until they’re 16 or older. The fear of a negative reaction can be very damaging to a young person. This guide gives practical advice for teachers and all youth professionals such as avoiding assumptions, working with parents and carers and how to respond when a young person comes out”

Recent changes have meant that there is a now statutory obligation to support all young people including those identifying as gay,l esbian and bisexual. Alongside this guide, Stonewall have also produced a number of other resources to do this including the Education for All programme, the Stonewall’s anti-homophobia feature film FIT which was recently sent to every school in Britain and the “Some people are gay. Get over it!”  zero-tolerance message campaign.

This latest Stonewall guide can be downloaded from the education resources section of the Stonewall site.