Positioning discourse on homophobia in schools: what have lesbian and gay families got to say?

Despite many changes in legislation in Europe that give lesbians and gay men the same legal rights and accountabilities as heterosexuals, most countries in the world continue to breach the fundamental human rights of their lesbian and gay citizens. At a European level, legislative changes have been insufficient in addressing the complexity involved (EUAFR, 2013) Significant evidence continues to demonstrate that homophobia remains a serious problem in many European States. This is the backdrop to Rainbow Homophobia and Schools (Rainbow HAS) research project, which involves 6 nation states collaboration to examine the problem of trans/homophobic bullying in schools.
The English research team stream used a range of methods to investigate and understand these issues. This presentation focused on the qualitative interviews undertaken with a range of different families, schools and community associations in order to provide a snapshot of contemporary practice. Through this approach, we identified discourses used to address homophobia and the implications for developing a more in-depth dialogue with stakeholders.
We draw upon one specific area of the study's findings, using a Foucauldian lens to examine the experiences of the 'new' families of lesbian and gay men, who had successfully negotiated the outsider/insider and public/private spheres of the school and communities of which they are a part. This has implications for promoting ideas around intersectionality in social work, challenging given approaches to understanding discourse in homophobic bullying and the need to question the relative silence of social work in addressing this.
Reference: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2013) EU LGBT Survey: European Union lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender survey: Results at a Glance. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

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