A teacher reveals how she’s recently watched an incredible transformation in the way young people learn about LGBT+ people.

‘In the 15 years I’ve been teaching, things really have changed and moved on,’ Evie Cryer tells Metro.co.uk.

But when she started teaching primary school children as a young lesbian, she could not be as open as she is now – and hid her sexuality from her class.

The now 36-year-old began primary school teaching in 2007, shortly after Section 28 of the Equality Act was abolished.

Section 28 was a law introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government which prohibited the ‘promotion of heterosexuality’ by local authorities and schools right up until 2003.

But despite starting her career four years after Section 28 was completely removed from the statute books, she was warned not to tell her class she’s a lesbian in case it impacted upon her career.

‘I was told not to tell the kids’

‘I was told I wasn’t meant to tell the kids,’ she says, ‘I thought I could manage it for a year.’

But in that time she was further told she couldn’t teach sex and relationships education (SRE) because she ‘didn’t know enough’.

‘Now I know that’s totally wrong, but as a 24-year-old I just let it go,’ Evie adds. ‘But I didn’t know any better at the time.’

But more than a decade later, Evie says ‘everything has changed’ and she can comfortably reveal her sexuality to her schoolchildren, as she’s lucky to work in a very inclusive school.

‘Things weren’t like that 15 years ago’

‘I can be really open with my class now,’ the Year 6 teacher says. ‘They want to know and they are interested.

‘I’m really into reading with my class, and they come across characters in books who, for example, use they/them pronouns. So we can have discussions about how some people are not boy or girl.

‘Things like that weren’t around 15 years ago.’

Evie, who teaches at a school in North Lincolnshire, says young people using social media has really helped spark a change in attitude.

‘Social media has played a massive part in the evolution – it’s there all the time,’ she explains.

‘They’re all on TikTok, and they love celebrities like Harry Styles and JoJo [Siwa]. Celebrity now is about being open and honest, and being yourself.

‘Because they’re always around it, they ask about it more and talk about it more.’

A keen reader, Evie thinks diverse books are key in helping children learn about the LGBT+ community.

‘It is important to think about representation,’ she says. ‘I don’t want to use the phrase “normalise” – but instead “usualise” – same-sex families and lives.

‘We don’t need to teach it if it’s already part of culture, for example, if there are books where families have two mums or two dads.’

‘Inclusion makes such a difference’

Evie also notes she’s come across several children with same-sex parents over her years in teaching, so it’s important these families are recognised in children’s literature.

‘If you don’t see your family represented it can make you feel different,’ she explains.

‘So it makes such a difference to be included.’

For teachers who are not LGBT+ but want to help their schoolchildren learn about inclusivity – however, may be concerned about getting something wrong or offending someone – Evie offers some advice.

‘I would say to treat it like something you’ve never taught before,’ she says.

‘It’s like, for example, teaching children about the Romans. If you don’t know much about it, you research it first.

‘You wouldn’t make it up and say they lived in 3,000 BC or something. You’d check your facts.

‘So with LGBT+, you’re likely to work with someone from the community who you can ask. If not, there are so many education groups on Facebook, and forums, with people who would be happy to help.’

But despite a push in recent years for inclusion, new research from young people’s charity Just Like Us this week found 91% of LGBT+ children have heard negative language at school associated with their sexuality or gender identity – and they are twice as likely to have been bullied.

‘Be visible if you can’

Evie, who is married, thinks one way to tackle homophobia in schools is ‘for kids to see people who are LGBT+’.

‘Then they will know them as humans, and being gay, bi or so on is secondary to that,’ she says.

‘If we link being gay to positive role models, then it stops being a derogatory term. If they know someone they like is gay, they won’t use it in that way, because it’s like saying that person is bad.’

She says as a result, it can have a ‘huge impact’ for LGBT+ teachers and staff to come out to their students – if they are able to.

‘Being visible, out and part of the community can really help young people if they think they might be gay, or questioning,’ she explains.

The study further discovered that the percentage of young LGBT+ people who have contemplated suicide drops if their school has strong positive messaging around being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

‘It’s just about being honest about it,’ Evie adds. ‘Not having to “scream” it or fit a stereotype – you wouldn’t necessarily know about me unless you spoke to me about it – but not to shy away from it. I’m very open.’

Although Evie, who also campaigns for deaf awareness, is now able to be open with her sexuality around her class, she acknowledges not all teachers have the same experience.

The research from Just Like Us also found only 40% of primary and secondary school staff who consider themselves part of the community are out to their pupils – suggesting many feel the need to disguise their true identities.

But the teacher is hopeful that in the coming years, more LGBT+ staff and pupils will feel like they can ‘come out of hiding’.

Evie says apps like TikTok and YouTube improve the visibility of all kinds of topics related to gender and sexuality – from following the journey of a trans person to people sharing how they came out.

‘It means kids who are questioning can see how people have come out and are now living their best lives,’ she concludes.

‘When I grew up there was no social media, and where I lived there was no one like me.

‘But now kids have people who represent what it means to be different versions of gay, bi, and so on. They show we are just the same as everybody else.’

Future of Pride

This story is part of the Future of Pride series, which is looking at the younger generation of LGBT+ community and where it is headed in the next few years. The series features in Metro.co.uk’s Pride Week coverage.

For these stories our website is working with Just Like Us, which runs School Diversity Week at the end of June to make education more inclusive and improve the lives of LGBT+ young people across the UK.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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