A school that launched the country’s first gay-straight alliance for pupils has seen a turnaround in attitudes to homosexuality.
Graeme Plunkett, headteacher of Copland community school in Wembley, said there has been a drop in homophobic abuse since the club’s launch.
The alliance, which is open to all students, celebrated its first anniversary at Copland this week. Gay-straight alliances are common in US schools but Copland believes it is the first to launch one in England.
Any pupils overheard using the word “gay” as an insult receive one-to-one training, while teachers are given advice about how to deal with homophobic incidents.
Mr Plunkett said: “We are trying to highlight the language of abuse and the attitudes of intolerance. We are not doing anything to promote a certain lifestyle over others. We want to create an atmosphere of tolerance.”
The alliance was set up by the school’s headgirl Kimberley Duah and is run by teacher Kate Boldry. Students put up posters at the school, hand out gay pride badges and organise guest speakers and screenings of films with homosexual themes.
