Inclusive Relationships and Sex Education for Young LGBTQ+ People: A Comparative Study of England and Scotland.

Abstract

Teaching about sex and sexuality is controversial due to young people being seen as innocent and LGBTQ+ identities as threatening. Young LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of relationships and sex education (RSE) often lack LGBTQ+ inclusivity and emphasize biological and risk-based education. The prevalence of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) in LGBTQ+ communities is high and amongst young people DVA is often normalised and missed by support services. However, RSE, within wider societal change, is vital for the prevention of DVA. Little research touches on this intersection of young LGBTQ+ people.
Research tends to hegemonise the UK or focus on English populations. This is the first to take a comparative approach to researching RSE in Scotland and England. This project took a feminist epistemological approach which sees questions of power, gender and sexuality as central to understanding social life. Through discourse analysis of Scottish and English RSE guidance and a survey of young LGBTQ+ people, I used mixed methods to compare the policy contexts and experiences of school RSE by LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland and England.
The findings support previous research which highlighted poor experiences of RSE in school by young LGBTQ+ people. Using queer theory, I argue that young people’s experiences and guidance in both Scotland and England lack LGBTQ+ inclusivity and sex positivity as a basis to sexual citizenship. Although there is space for radical interpretations of sexual citizenship within RSE policy, it is likely that current policies and practices in both Scotland and England reinforce, rather than prevent, power hierarchies that are fundamental to poor sexual health outcomes and DVA amongst young LGBTQ+ people.