Page 30-31 - WINTER 2013
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WINTER 2013
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We’re equal now – aren’t we?
So why is bullying still a problem?
If Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivers on his promise, soon, some low-paid
same sex married couples will benefit from the married person’s tax give away worth £3.85
a week. If ever there was evidence that LGB and T people had achieved equality in Britain,
surely this pledge by a Conservative government is it? If only.
are more accepting, so it will get better. The
bad news is, this is still a very large number
of people.
Meanwhile a survey by Stonewall (“Gay in
Britain”, 2013) confirmed that about one
fifth of us still experience bullying in the
workplace, and one third are unwilling to
be open about their sexuality. Stonewall’s
School Report (2012) confirmed that the
problem in schools has not only not gone
away, it has hardly improved.
The media has woken up to the problem
of cyber bullying. Young people in
particular rely increasingly on social media
to communicate with their peers, with
sometimes fatal consequences. Dealing
with this should be a major priority of the
education system: whether or not it is will
depend on the attitude of school leaders,
and, especially in the growing proportion
of institutions freed from local authority
oversight, this will depend on their own
wishes, subject only to brief and infrequent
inspection visits where (despite protestations
to the contrary) we remain sceptical that
discussing and reporting homophobic
bullying is high on an inspector’s list of
priorities.
The most effective way to challenge bullying
in the workplace – cyber or in-your-face
- is for there to be a workplace culture in
which it is unacceptable because everyone
accepts that we are equal. Where non-LGBT
colleagues step in to stop homophobic
or transphobic abuse (often, we know,
presented as “banter”) in the same way
(it is to be hoped) they would stop racist
“jokes”, and where managers make clear that
the employer has a zero tolerance policy,
then individual LGB and T workers will
feel happier to be open about their lives,
which will in turn improve the culture. But
it should not be their responsibility and
individuals must be free to make their own
decisions about coming out.
The same approach applies to dealing with
cyber bullying. If a teenager does not care
if the world knows she is a lesbian, but she
is happy and proud to be one, then social
media taunting may have much less impact.
If those who share insulting postings turn on
the poster rather than the intended victim,
it will stop.
Sadly, while so many people think being
LGB or T is wrong, the problem will not go
away. But the role of schools and workplaces
in challenging prejudice ought to be
paramount, because it’s there that taking the
right approach can yield the most effective
results.
Trade unions will continue to work
with everyone committed to equality to
make anti-bullying week – eventually –
unnecessary. Meanwhile, the best place for
LGB and T workers is inside their union,
working with six million colleagues not
only to protect the individual at work,
but to help all workers everywhere to win
equality – and to campaign for a
society rooted in fairness
and justice rather than
the greed, division
and exploitation
that underlie current
government policy.
Peter Purton
TUC LGBT
and Disability officer
It’s clear that bullying and harassment of
people because of their sexuality or gender
identity remains a big problem. We know
the reason for it: a significant number of
British people continue to be prejudiced
against us.
Two major recent national surveys
have demonstrated this. The British
Social Attitudes (BSA) survey regularly
investigates the views of a large cross section
of people on a wide range of social issues.
The 2013 survey showed that there has been
enormous progress in acceptance of lesbian,
gay and bisexual people as equals (it doesn’t
cover trans) – but that 28 percent (that is,
nearly three people in every ten) still believe
that homosexuality is always or mostly
wrong. The good news is that if you break
the figure down by age group, younger people
