ENDEMIC bullying against transgender pupils in schools is forcing young people to the brink of suicide, teachers have warned.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pupils suffer "unacceptably high levels of mental ill health," a teaching union says.

NASUWT said there was "deeply alarming" evidence that transgender pupils faced persistent harassment.

The warning comes in a resolution to the Scottish Trades Union Congress next month.

"Trans young people are particularly at risk, with disproportionately high numbers reporting periods of self harm or had considered taking their own life as a result of persistent transphobia in schools," the NASUWT motion states.

The resolution also calls for ministers to introduce compulsory "equalities training" in schools.

However, it said teachers are also facing transphobic and homophobic bullying to the detriment of their mental health.

The intervention comes as the Time for Inclusive Education (Tie) campaign is lobbying for new legislation to ensure schools proactively tackle discrimination.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has launched an 'inclusive education working group' aimed at improving life in schools for LGBT young people, and the Scottish Government says it is committed to working with the Tie campaign.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We recognise the particular disadvantage experienced by trans people across many aspects of their life, and are supportive of all measures to increase inclusion in schools for pupils and staff alike.

“Scotland is recognised as one of the most progressive countries in Europe on LGBT rights, however we are doing more to tackle prejudice.

“LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland published guidance for teachers, in November 2017, which outlines the simple steps that can be taken to ensure no-one experiences discrimination or prejudice because of their gender identity.”

'THEY TOLD MY SON 'WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU ... THEN HE TRIED TO KILL HIMSELF'

By Angela Haggerty

One mother, Sarah – whose name we’ve changed in order to protect her identity - was forced not only to move schools for her transgender son, but to move location after severe bullying.

Despite multiple meetings with her son’s school, he continued to experience taunts and physical assaults. It culminated when he attempted to take his own life at the age of 12, and Sarah felt that the school would not take the severity of the problem seriously.

“The school refused to acknowledge that there was any bullying going on,” she explains. “I had to send him to school with his mobile phone and we had to speak constantly throughout the day - when it got too bad I had to go and get him from school.

“When I spoke to one senior staff member, she refused to have any LGBT training on the grounds that it was a Catholic school and it didn’t fit in with Catholic ethos. She then told my son that she empathised with him because she had a niece who was a lesbian and she’d had a terrible time in work, but that it was just something we need to learn to deal with because that’s how the world works.”

The bullying became so bad that it began to affect another of Sarah’s children, and she herself began receiving malicious phone calls.

“I ended up getting calls from pupils within the school telling me that my son was a freak, and receiving pictures of ropes, knives, being told ‘we’re going to get you’,” she says.

For Sarah, introducing LGBT education in schools is key to tackling the problem.

“I think 100 per cent, schools have to - regardless of their religious status - include LGBT education for everybody and they have to make sure they have proper policies and procedures for when transphobic incidents happen so that they can respond appropriately.

“They have to ensure the victim is the one who’s protected, and their education is protected, and deal appropriately with individuals who are causing the hurt, the pain, and fundamentally breaking the law. You can’t do it out on the street, so why are you allowed to do it in a school?”

For 20-year-old Dean Coyle, Vale of Leven Academy in West Dunbartonshire made the process of transitioning while still in school as smooth as it could have been. Aged 16, Dean felt confident enough to speak to staff about his situation thanks to the existence of a committee in his school which was formed to help address issues faced by trans and LGBT children.

“For me I never would have dreamed of coming out as anything in school in my younger years because I knew I would be attacked and there wasn’t a visible LGBT role model,” he says. “It was only in my older years when I was coming out as trans that I was aware that they had started a committee and I could see the differences around the school, and I realised that it was maybe the right time to come out and be visible. The committee made a huge difference.”

For Dean, the existence of committees are powerful resources in schools. “Committees are a good way to start, it gets pupils together talking about the issues, it makes the school aware,” he says.

“In our school it was students who came together and wanted to start it with a teacher. I know that places like Stonewall and Tie have starter packs for schools that want to do that, so there is information out there for schools that want it, and it’s free.”