This is the exact part of law that keeps teachers in the closet, and please read the letter beneath from a young teacher: 37.—(1) A religious, educational or medical institution which is under the direction or control of a body established for religious purposes or whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious values shall not be taken to discriminate against a person for the purposes of this Part or Part II if— (a) it gives more favourable treatment, on the religion ground, to an employee or a prospective employee over that person where it is reasonable to do so in order to maintain the religious ethos of the institution, or (b) it takes action which is reasonably necessary to prevent an employee or a prospective employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution. Yes I am.....LGBT Hi Helen Ive considered writing this for quite a while now but after the PantiBliss news I felt I had to. Im a teacher, a young ish girl in a fairly average staffroom full of teachers and SNAs. My colleagues are like friends in many ways, we chat about our lives, their kids, husbands, wives. Ive been to their weddings, Christenings of their kids and weve all celebrated birthdays, anniversarys and school events together. Weve had fantastic staff nights out and I think in most ways I work with some of the best teachers in the country. Of course theres one slight issue. Im gay. And they dont know. Its my personal life. Private. But we share their personal lives. They wouldnt be comfortable knowing I have a girlfriend. Every Monday morning Im asked how my weekend was, if I met any interesting people which is code for if I met any nice boys over the weekend. Im fairly good looking girl, Im often told how I could have my pick of the boys and on our staff nights out my colleagues will try to help me meet a guy. After six years with my girlfriend my colleagues still think she is no more then my roommate whom Ive lived with for the last three years. The thing is before I started working in the school there was another gay teacher here and Ive heard the jokes made about him, jokes that are insulting, hurtful and generally homophobic. How can I be honest with my colleagues, my friends when I know how theyll react? Talking about me behind my back the way they talk about him? He was here a lot longer then Ive been and still they joke and make fun of him and his boyfriend..... LGBT Pride In our school weve gone to great lengths to ensure that the kids in our school feel accepted. Weve children from all nationalities, kids who have different religions, who have various learning difficulties and social backgrounds. Weve been teaching about prejudices and tolerance, to respect each other, about how to be better friends and classmates. How to accept and love each other for who they are. Yet I cant seem to find the same respect in my staffroom for how I live my life. Ive asked myself why its important to me to be accepted in my work place. But if Im honest my school is more then my workplace. And if I can share my colleagues lives with them then why cant they share mine with me? I love my girlfriend and Im so proud of her and everything she is and does. Id love to be able to share that but my colleagues dont seem very accepting of LGBT people or rights. Ive heard some disgusting comments and jokes about Panti and it really makes me feel sick to the stomach. So Im here writing to you hoping youll share my story on your website and that our online #edchatie colleagues and friends are more accepting of me then my real world ones are. Im not ready to share my name yet but Im someone you know, someone you talk to and someone youve shared resources, ideas and news with. I just want our education system, our educators and colleagues to be more tolerant of each other and then maybe I can share my engagement with my #edchatie friends.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 20:56:00 +0000