This week marks Anti-Bullying Week, and our SIoE research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) young people are still at risk of being bullied in our schools. Our study is the largest of its kind ever conducted in England, with over 61,000 pupils and staff from 853 schools taking part. It focused specifically on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying (bullying that targets people because of their actual or assumed sexual or gender identity), and on LGBT inclusion in schools.
We often assume that ‘progress’, especially when it comes to LGBT rights, is a steady march forward, and to be fair, the past 25 years have seen significant changes for LGBT people in the UK. In 2015, the UK was ranked number one on the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map, which rates 49 European countries on the basis of laws and policies that directly impact on LGBT people’s human rights. Around the same time, the UK government invested over £6 million in initiatives to prevent and respond to HBT bullying, including our research. The year our research finished, the Government announced that relationships and sex education (RSE) would become compulsory in English secondary schools and that it should include LGBT content. For a while, there was reason to feel cautiously optimistic.
But things began to change. Despite commissioning our research, in an unprecedented move, the Conservative Government delayed releasing the findings for five years. Ultimately, the study was only published after a change in government. During this five-year period, the government’s public rhetoric took an increasingly hostile turn, especially toward trans people, as reflected in high-profile speeches and contentious policy proposals that increasingly prioritise ‘biological sex’ over trans people’s rights, often implying that trans people are a threat, particularly to women and girls. In April 2025, a widely criticised supreme court ruling on gender was quickly followed by a controversial ‘interim update’ from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Fast forward just a few weeks, and the consequences became starkly visible in the 2025 ILGA‑Europe Rainbow Map where the UK plummeted to 22nd place. We are now the second‑worst country in Western Europe and Scandinavia for LGBT‑related laws.
Recently the government also revised its statutory guidance on RSE, sharply reducing references to trans people, mentioning them only once (and then only in a subheading). Under the new guidance schools are told that they ‘should not teach as fact that all people have a gender identity’ and ‘should avoid materials that… encourage pupils to question their gender’. This framing echoes Section 28, the infamous law that, until 2003 in England, prohibited local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality’ and barred schools from teaching the ‘acceptability of homosexuality’.
Against this backdrop, our new book demonstrates that HBT (homophobic, biphobic and transphobic) bullying is still happening. Our study reveals that many schools primarily respond to bullying incidents after they occur, rather than proactively preventing them. In primary schools, efforts often focus on educating children about inappropriate language. Fewer schools are embedding HBT bullying prevention within everyday teaching or displaying visible reminders throughout the school environment. Where LGBT inclusion is happening, it often takes place in assemblies, or sometimes in secondary schools during PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) lessons, or in ‘drop-down days’ when normal lessons are suspended. In some primary schools, specific books are used to introduce these topics. There are also barriers, for example, a lack of time and staff capacity available in schools, and a lack of funding to invest in resources, facilities or training to help do this work well. Some staff don’t feel supported by school leadership. Others worry about complaints from parents or are uncertain about what’s ‘age appropriate’. In the current context, these concerns and lack of confidence are likely to grow.
But when schools get it right, there is real impact. For instance, LGBT pupils, and those with LGBT family members, report feeling safer and more understood. Other students feel more empowered to ask questions about issues that confuse or concern them.
However, the recent developments in the UK are cause for concern. Instead of supporting schools to create more inclusive environments, recent guidance, and arguably the suppression of important research, risks making things worse for LGBT young people and those with LGBT family members. Teachers are left uncertain about what they are permitted to say or teach, and pupils may feel more isolated as a result. It’s difficult to understand why any government would endanger children and young people’s wellbeing in this way. As we mark Anti-Bullying Week, it’s important to remember that (to borrow from a seemingly forgotten policy agenda of the 2000s) every child matters. Every child and young person, regardless of background or identity, deserves to feel safe and included in their educational environments, and therefore schools need to address anti-LGBT bullying. To make inclusion a reality, we need to support schools—not leave them uncertain or under-resourced.
Eleanor Formby is Professor of Sociology and Youth Studies in the Sheffield Institute of Education.
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