This paper reports on research which investigates English teachers’ and young LGB-identified (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people’s perceptions of the ways in which sexuality is discursively constructed in the English national curriculum. The main research objective is to contribute to developing understandings of sexuality in/equalities in urban educational contexts, particularly in relation to the curriculum. The British government has stated their aim to ‘help schools tackle bullying in schools, especially homophobic bullying’ (http://programmeforgovernment.hmg.gov.uk/schools/). Our research engages with this as well as with reports produced by the UK-based gay campaigning group Stonewall. These reports (Hunt and Jensen, 2007; Guasp,2009) demonstrate that homophobia is pervasive in UK schools, resulting in a myriad of problems for both students and teachers which urgently need to be addressed as a part of inclusive education. Homophobia in schools has been shown to have detrimental effects on pupils’ well-being, safety and academic achievement (e.g. Epstein and Johnson, 1998; Pearson, Muller & Wilkinson, 2007; Roen et al, 2007). However, these issues are now starting to be addressed, especially in urban areas of the UK –  the city of Birmingham is one such area. Birmingham city council is a member of Stonewall’s ‘Education Champions’ programme. This programme is a progressive strategy which provides local authorities with bespoke support and guidance in tackling homophobia in schools. The research draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with English teachers and young LGB-identified people in Birmingham. The main questions asked by this research are:

1. What kinds of sexuality discourses are perceived by teacher and young people as existing in the secondary English curriculum?

2. How are the effects of the sexuality discourses identified in the curriculum seen as having an impact on LGB-identified young people?

3. If homophobic discourses are identified, what (if anything) is being done to challenge them through the content of the English curriculum and its delivery?

4. Does the city of Birmingham’s commitment to tackling homophobia in schools have any perceived effect on any of the above?

The research draws on theoretical insights from queer theory, especially the work of Butler (1993; 1997; 1999; 2004) as well as some aspects of critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995; 2001). Both frameworks are used to interrogate the ways in which ideologies of sexuality and constructed and circulated in the English school curriculum.

Sexuality has, arguably, received less attention than other aspects of inclusive education, even within urban contexts. Therefore, more research on sexuality in relation to various aspects of schooling is urgently-needed in order to improve the well-being of students and those involved in their education. It is hoped that increasing the visibility of sexuality within international research in inclusive education will contribute to challenging the culture of silence that exists around sexuality in our secondary schools. Through presenting our research at the ECER conference, we hope to engage in dialogue with participants from other European countries to explore how issues around sexual diversity and in/equality are dealt with through school curricula and in different urban educational contexts.

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