Letter to Liverpool Echo : Response to Homophobia in Schools Report

Cllr Steve Radford
Leader Liberal Party Group
 
Dear Editor
 
May I add a few comments fiollowing your article about tackling Homophobia in Schools
 
This initiative is only after a sustained campaign by my Liberal Party colleagues and myself to get the Stombreak Report brought to Council Committees uncensored and out in the public domain
 
It is disgraceful that I had to place a complaint with the Information Commissioner before I was given a full copy of a report received by the City Council 6 or so months earlier
 
The effort by Liverpool of recent ,does not hide the decades of indifference by this City Council ,which has lagged behind other equivalent cities
 
Lastly I was not commenting as an individual Councillor but as Leader of The Liberal Party Group, I would be grateful if titled with the same coutesy as Councillors Bradley and Anderson would be as Leader of their parties
 
 
The fact is on all issues with respect to tackling Homophobia ,I have had solid support from my fellow Liberal Party Councillors , who are in fact "straight".
 
This is in sharp contrast to the significant number of closeted gay Councillors in the Lib Dem Group who have persistently voted against even debating any issue relating to LGBT equality
 
As the genuine Liberal Party we are committed to fighting against discrimination on all fronts, not just stick a few slogans on election adverts to target communities opportunistically at election time
 
Cllr Steve Radford
Leader Liberal Party Group

Schools to tackle homophobia fears

Jan 23 2008 by Ben Turner, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL teachers are being trained to challenge homophobic bullying amid fears it has become an “epidemic” in city schools.

Education chiefs today revealed an anti-bullying expert had been drafted in.

City council bosses have commissioned Jonathan Charlsworth, director of support group EACH, to deliver two days of workshops next month.

The move followed a report from pressure group Stonewall which found half of teachers fail to respond to homophobic language directed at pupils.

Stuart Smith, executive director of children’s services, told the council’s community safety scrutiny panel: “I do agree that this type of bullying is probably of epidemic proportions.

“I also accept the point that even those teachers who might frown upon racist and sexist bullying would allow ‘gay’ name calling and worse to go unchallenged.”

Liberal councillor Steve Radford, who is also the co-chairman of Liverpool’s Gay Business Association, said the workshops were long overdue.

He said: “This is something that I have been pushing for and is a profound step in the right direction.”