TL;DR: A sharp rise in school suspensions over homophobic and transphobic bullying in England has been revealed by the Department for Education. The data comes as new statutory RSHE guidance that frames Trans+ lives as a debate, widely reviled as ‘Section 28 2.0’, is due to come into force.
New Department for Education data has revealed a huge increase in school suspensions over homophobic and transphobic bullying in England, alongside racist and ableist abuse.
Over just a four year period, between 2020-21 and 2024-25, there was a 68% rise in mentions of prejudicial abuse when documenting reasons for suspension – BBC
Martha Boateng, director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), said government funding cuts had resulted in a "real reduction in schools’ ability to undertake anti-bullying training”, and called for sustained investment to “create safe, respectful environments for all children and young people” – LinkedIn
In response to the data, Laura Mackay, Chief Executive of LGBT+ young people's charity Just Like Us, told QueerAF the charity is “extremely concerned” at rising levels of anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in schools, adding these figures “only represent the tip of the iceberg”.
“There is no government data to tell us about incidences of anti-LGBT+ bullying where there are no resulting suspensions or exclusions, leaving us in the dark to the real scale of the problem,” Mackay said. “Earlier this year, the draft guidance on Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) raised significant concerns for us that trans and gender diverse young people could become further marginalised, and this September, new RSE guidance will come into force that could make school staff fearful of teaching about LGBT+ lives and experiences."
The charity boss added that in the context of widespread anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and the new EHRC Code of Practice, protecting young queer people from bullying and abuse is “more urgent than ever before”.
What do the findings show?
Overall, the data shows that between the 2020/21 autumn term and 2024/25 spring term, suspensions due to abuse over race, sexuality, gender or disability were logged more than 70,000 times - Department for Education
Homophobic and transphobic abuse specifically saw a 25% increase between the spring term in 2021-22 and the spring term in 2024-25 - BBC
In the 2020/21 academic year there were a total of 1,713 suspensions for abuse related to sexuality and gender identity, increasing to 2,601 in 2021/22, 2,917 in 2022/23 and 2,468 in 2023/24. The academic year 2024/25, for which the summer term is not yet included in the data, saw at least 2,323 suspensions.
The vast majority of these cases took place in secondary schools (91%), while 6% happened in primary schools and 3% in Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools.
Analysis: What pupils see and hear matters
The current school year is soon to draw to a close and many teachers, pupils and parents will no doubt be turning their attention to what September will hold. Targets to meet, exams to prepare for, and futures to think about – the usual.
For Trans+ pupils though, the 2026/27 school year sees the introduction of new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance which frames their very lives as the subject of “significant debate” - Department for Education
No doubt, this will not help to foster trans inclusivity within school communities or help to crack down on transphobic bullying.
In the guidance, where the word ‘transgender’ only appears in the title of the LGBT section, teaching staff have been instructed to be “careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact” when it comes to Trans+ identities. Specifically, they should not “teach as fact that all people have a gender identity” - QueerAF
It has been labelled as ‘Section 28 2.0’, as it echoes the Thatcher-era legislation which banned the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality in schools until 2003 in England and Wales - QueerAF
We will not know the true implications of this guidance until it is actually being taught during the new school year. But it is well documented how difficult Section 28 made it for teachers to speak about gay and lesbian identities. This new RSHE guidance could have the same effect when it comes to Trans+ lives – and teachers may feel the need to just avoid the subject altogether.
What pupils see and hear in school matters. How cis young people see their teachers speak about Trans+ people – individuals they may share a classroom with – matters. It sets a precedent. Avoidance of an issue very often leads to taboo, and from taboo comes prejudice.
We need more investment in queer accountability journalism.
Our rights are under attack, and navigating how to fight back is only possible with quality, fact-checked, accessible information - written by LGBTQIA+ journalists.
We're a small but mighty publisher, and are so glad you trust us every week to bring you a selection of the top queer news, unique perspectives and content everyone's talking about in this newsletter.
If QueerAF had more resources, I can assure you - we'd double down even further on our investigations and news output, but even more so: We'd train, mentor and invest in an even bigger new generation of queer journalists.
In just four years, we've supported 150 LGBTQIA+ creatives to develop their craft and careers.
We're not going anywhere, and that work continues.
We can't do it without you, so if you can - please start your monthly or annual membership to QueerAF, so we can help even more people fight back.
