See trailer for Time For Inclusive Education film here
Members of the Scottish Parliament will join campaigners and film-makers in Holyrood tonight as they attend a private screening of three short films highlighting LGBT issues in Scotland.
Commissioned by Pink Saltire, the films aim to outline that while the nation has made progress on LGBT rights, there are still areas where further work is required - with a particular focus on bullying in schools and transgender equality.
One film, titled Time for Inclusive Education? and shot by Blue Star Streaming (see below for trailer), charts the growing momentum around campaign group Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), who have been calling for LGBT issues to be taught in all schools in an effort to tackle homophobic bullying.
The film features the testimonies of LGBT young people, who openly discuss their experiences of being bullied at school and the mental health issues that they continue to face as a result.
SNP MP Mhairi Black and co-convener of the Scottish Green Party Patrick Harvie also feature in the film, where they express their support for TIE’s demands while discussing their own experiences at school and both address the debate around teaching LGBT issues in faith schools.
In the footage, Harvie says: “We should not be satisfied with a patchy picture of equality in our schools, and we should not be satisfied with the idea that many young people are being sent to be educated by an organisation which considers them to be morally defective.”
Black shares her own experiences, stating that: “We were regularly taught the Catholic values, where it was a man and a woman, they fall in love, they get married. Of course, somebody would ask ‘but what if you’re gay, Miss?’ and the answer that was always given was that ‘there’s nothing wrong with being gay, the only thing wrong with it is acting on it’.”
Since the campaign’s launch last June, TIE has continually argued for an inclusive LGBT education to be delivered in all schools in Scotland, and have called for a legislative reform to achieve this.
Their calls have attracted support from across the Scottish political spectrum, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon describing herself as a “huge supporter” of the campaign during this year’s election.
At this year's Glasgow Pride, thousands marched in support of TIE's calls.
Two other films will be screened tonight: Queer Kingdom, which focusses on what life is like for LGBT people living in rural Scotland, and Scottish, Trans and Proud which reflects on the ongoing fight for equal recognition.
