Sir, – When I first read your article on gay teachers in our schools, I felt a huge sense of relief that this very sensitive issue was finally being forced out of the closet (Grainne Faller, Education Today, March 27th).
Then I was filled with a sense of great sadness for the many, many pupils who discover they are gay during their secondary school years and for whom there are few support systems at school to help them come to terms with this awesome and terrifying discovery.
This was quickly followed by a sense of regret that I had personally done nothing about it during my time as Principal of a Catholic Voluntary Secondary School in Dublin from 2000-2006.
During that time, I was also keenly aware of and sympathetic to the gay movement as a member of my family had recently come out.
I was aware that according to statistics, up to 7 per cent of the population is homosexual and would therefore inevitably include members of our school community.
It was during those years that schools were finally required under the Education Act of 1998 to draw up and publish policy documents covering all aspects of school life.
As principal of the school I was directly involved with the board of management, staff, parents and pupils in the drawing up of these statutory policy documents.
Hundreds of hours were spent formulating the policies in an effort to get them as legally and as politically correct as possible and at the same time remain within the parameters of the religious ethos of the school. Discussion and debate were wide-ranging and inclusive. The main message was the promotion of trust, dignity and respect for all those involved in the education of the children who had been placed in our care.
The issue of homosexuality within the school walls or of homophobic bullying within the classroom or staffroom was simply never mentioned and therefore never featured in any of our policies. In spite of a better understanding of the situation now, homophobia is alive and well in our society and indeed in our schools. Suggesting someone in the class is gay is still good for a quick, derisive laugh, according to my teaching colleagues. Suggesting a teacher is gay elicits the same mocking response but, as many people still confuse homosexuality with paedophilia this puts gay teachers in a particularly invidious position.
Let us also not forget that for some young people the fear of just being different can be so overwhelming that ending their life can seem like the only solution.
I applaud The Irish Times and Grainne Faller for breaking this silence. – Yours, etc,