Poll shows majority backing for LGBTQI+ relationship education in schools

In a poll conducted by YouGov for PinkNews, 59% of people backed children learning about LGBTQI+ relationships at school. 25% opposed the idea, while 16% were unsure.

Most people also supported transgender people being able to self-identify their sex, the research published on Thursday suggests.

Education is not about “trying to turn people gay”

New guidance on relationships and sex education, which will be compulsory from 2020 and will require pupils to learn about LGBTQI+ families, was published last week by the Department for Education.

Guidance states that pupils must understand and respect that some people are LGBTQI+ and that the law “affords them and their relationships recognition and protections”.

There have been demonstrations by some parents against schools teaching about LGBTQI+ relationships. Parents at two schools in Birmingham, for example, have protested over the classes.

Labour’s Angela Eagle, who became the first openly gay female MP when she came out in 1997, insisted last week that such education is not “propagandising” or about “trying to turn people gay”, but instead is about respecting the right to have an “equal welcome in school” and not be bullied.

“The public backs reforming the law”

The survey of 1,720 adults, carried out last month, also found that the majority supported individuals being able to self-identify their gender as one other than that in which they were born. Some 56% gave their backing, while 23% said were in opposition and 21% were undecided.

Theresa May last year ordered a consultation on the Gender Recognition Act, which allows people to change their legal gender.

It is hoped that the process of acquiring a Gender Recognition Certificate will be easier, cheaper and less intrusive.

PinkNews chief executive Benjamin Cohen celebrated the poll’s findings, saying:

“It is clear that the public backs reforming the law to allow trans people to self-identify in order to receive a Gender Recognition Certificate.”

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons