• June 25 is the second annual Relationship and Sex Education Day
• RSE Day celebrates positive work around relationships and sex education in schools and the
  wider community
• Luke reaffirms his support for proper inclusive RSE in all schools

Luke Pollard has reaffirmed his support for inclusive Relationships and Sex Education on the second annual RSE Day

With statutory RSE starting from 1 September, RSE Day 2020 is the perfect time to put the spotlight on good practice and  highlight the consensus of support for RSE.

Bullying and poor mental health affects LGBT young people at alarming rates. Nearly half of LGBT pupils (45 per cent) – are bullied for being LGBT at school (Stonewall, 2017). The risk of grooming and sexual exploitation online is heightened as children are spending more time online during school closures and offenders are also online in greater numbers. Young people say that school is their preferred main source of information about sex, followed by parents, then health professionals (Tanton 2015).

In a debate on this in House of Commons in 2019, Luke made clear his commitment to providing inclusive RSE in all schools. He said:

I’m proud to be gay. I say that not to fly a flag but because I wasn’t always proud to be gay. When I was growing up I felt dirty. I felt alone. I felt like people like me did not exist because I did not see them. I was not told about them. We were something that was hidden away.

 

I want every single child in our country to have age-appropriate healthy sex and relationship education. Because love is love and different families will love the same and that is a message that we should be proud to send out our young people be they gay straight lesbian trans or bi. They all deserve to know they’re valued and their loved. We need not only LGBT education in our schools but we need LGBT materials as well.