 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 3945 in the name of Monica Lennon on time for inclusive education, the TAI campaign. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Would those members who wish to speak in the debate please press their request to speak buttons now and I call on Monica Lennon to open the debate. Ms Lennon, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. A few years ago I was having drinks in a bar with a couple of friends from work, a typical gossipy get-together. Then I noticed that one of my colleagues was starting to fidget and shuffle in her street. After much squirming, she explained that she had something to tell us. It seemed to take forever, then out it came. I'm gay. All I could do was throw out my arms and hug her. She had made us fear the worst. She wasn't sick, she wasn't dying. She was taking the terrifying but courageous step of telling her workmate something that she had hidden most of her life. She was asking us to see her and accept her as an openly lesbian woman. I could see in that moment in her life that her authentic life was only just beginning. I haven't really thought about her for a while because I moved jobs and people lose touch. But as I was thinking about what to say tonight, I've been thinking about her and about that afternoon. You see, I'm a straight woman and I never had to declare it or struggle with my sexuality. I've never been accused of making a lifestyle choice because of it. So I've checked my privilege and I stand here as a friend, as a mum and yes, a politician. I haven't experienced the fear, the isolation, the bullying, the taunting, the shame and the cuts and scars, mental and physical, that perhaps others in the chamber, in the public gallery or people listening at home, carry with them simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. I stand here leading this debate in my name because I've chosen not to be a bystander. I stand here because LGBT inclusive education remains an aspiration for my young constituents, not a reality, not yet. How can I stand here? How can any of us come here to the Scottish Parliament and seek to represent them and not do something about that? I am grateful to the many MSPs who signed my motion and especially those who are here tonight. 69 MSPs have signed the TIE pledge. They have chosen not to be bystanders either. We are not a Parliament of bystanders. The TIE campaign has a clear ask and the challenge to the Scottish Government is to successfully bring forward legislation in the lifetime of this Parliament. If it looks like that will not happen, it will be down to other MSPs to make sure that it does. TIE is my kind of campaign. Two years ago, the TIE campaign burst on the scene, brimming with attitudes, pushing boundaries and provoking politicians. I absolutely love it and I love its radical spirit, the hope and confidence that it inspires and its uncompromising fight for equality. The TIE campaign is also a story of survival. Co-founder Jordan Daley, now 22-year-old, was once 12-year-old Jordan Daley. I scared young boy who was so worried about what the future would hold for him as a young gay man that he contemplated suicide and made a plan to end his own life. Thankfully, Jordan did not see that plan through, but he kept his childhood fears to himself. It was not until he was 19 when he made an unlikely friend in straight tanker driver Liam Stevenson that he finally opened up about what had led him at the age of 12 to think no further for his own future than his own funeral. Jordan was the first gay person Liam had ever met, and getting to know Jordan made Liam reflect on his own language and attitudes. However, what affected Liam the most was thinking about his own very young daughter and not wanting her to grow up in a classroom, a school or a Scotland where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are made to feel less valuable. As a mum, I feel that way too. Soon after my election to the Scottish Parliament, an introductory meeting was set up between me and Jordan and Liam. They kept me waiting something like 45 minutes late. My timekeeping is not my best quality, but I was thinking how on earth are those guys ever going to get MSPs on sides if they cannot even make the meeting. However, they arrived and the half hour that we had allocated extended to almost three hours. Tonight, I am also thinking of a close friend who always stands up for me when I get criticised for being a feminist. At South Lancer Council, there are 67 serving councillors of which I am still one. Among us, there is only one openly LGBT councillor, and that is my very good friend, Jed Killan, who is gay. Jed is now 30, but he recalls dreading getting on the school bus every day. For others, it is the playground or the canteen or even the classroom. Jed told me that LGBT issues were not spoken about in my school. If you knew you were gay, you spent your life thinking of ways to hide it. Last week during recess, I met with a 13-year-old constituent from Hamilton after her mum contacted my office. This intelligent, kind teenager told me that, in her school, her LGBT friends are not respected by some of the teachers. She did not feel that LGBT pupils were being treated fairly. She said that PE was often a difficult environment for girls, but also for LGBT pupils. My daughter will turn 11 this year. Like Liam Stevenson, I want my child to accept others and to be accepted in return. That is not a question about the right resources, it is about doing the right thing. It is not a matter of if, but when. I want to end by paying tribute to the TIE campaign, to its co-founders, Jordan Daley and Liam Stevenson. I would also like to thank Stonewall and the Quality Network and LGBT of Scotland for their own tireless campaigning work on inclusive education and for some of the briefings that we have received for tonight's debate. There are so many inspiring campaigners involved in driving this issue forward, who stand on the shoulders of the LGBT rights activists who came before them, fighting for civil partnerships and marriage equality. In closing, I want to share something that Liam said to me about Jordan. The 19-year-old Jordan, he said, put himself out there. He visited places in his mind where he never wanted to return to, but he did it to make things better for every LGBT young person in schools right across Scotland. I see the cabinet secretary in his seats and I ask him to think about all the LGBT children and young people who have to face school tomorrow and the next day. All the days after that, it is time for inclusive education. Please act quickly, cabinet secretary, and make it happen. Can I say gently to the public gallery that I understand that you wish to applaud but we do not permit it in the Parliament. I have got 10 members wanting to speak in this debate, so I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes. I can invite the member to move a motion without notice. Thank you very much. The question is that the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes. Are we all agreed? That is agreed. We have now extended the debate, however, that still means four-minute speeches in the open debate. I now call James Dornan to be followed by Ross Thompson. I thank Monica Lennon for her lovely speech. It is a very important issue. We are all hugely influenced by our early experiences and I was fortunate in mine. I come from a conscientious working class Irish Catholic family steeped in social awareness and was taught from an early age that perceived difference mattered not a jot and we were all jocked Tamsons burns. That is a quote from a speech that I made during the equal marriage debate some time ago now. That is why it is my great pleasure to take part in this debate and an issue that will affect members of the LGBTI community across Scotland. It is also a subject that has an impact on members of my family and friends. It is no secret that my office manager is a daughter who is transgender. I have asked for the family's permission and they are glad that their story can help others in the discussion around inclusive education. I knew her when she started to self-harm and saw how dangerous it was to her that she would become and I watched helplessly as her mum and family did absolutely everything they could to support her and to work out why she was behaving in such an extreme way. Her family took her to the child and adolescent mental health services camps and they found this to be an excellent service and with gentle encouragement and expert support she was able to come out as transgender. She is very lucky and I know that she attends a school that is extremely supportive and very understanding of the issues surrounding LGBTI associating young people. However, having worked alongside my member of staff during this journey and getting to know her daughter on a personal level, I can see that that journey coming through coming out could have been eased if there had been some open inclusive education throughout her schooling. Those of you who were here last term will probably know my brother Michael Gay and I spoke of this during the previous debate that I mentioned on equal marriage rights, and here is another quote from that equal marriage debate, which I think is appropriate for this debate. I remember what it was like for people who were gay when I was growing up, although we did not really know who they were because they lived in the shadows. My brother Michael was 15 when he came out, but the situation was so bad in Glasgow and Scotland at the time that he never came out to us. He waited until he was 17, then he went down to London and started a new life. He met a guy and went over to Portugal with him, and he has been there for over 40 years. He had to do that because of the Scotland that we lived in at that time. People said that we should not be moving on. That was over 40 years ago, and thankfully, as time has gone by, fewer and fewer people want us to continue to live in that kind of past. However, I have no doubt that growing up, my brother Michael would have had a much easier adolescence if we had been educated in issues such as this while still at school. In my grandkids, let us just take the difference between then and now. Things have improved vastly, but there is still a way to go. My grandkids, some of their friends do not even know. It just is not an issue. They know some of them are gay, they know some of them are straight, and others just do not know. It is never a subject that I would have been back in my day. I have had the pleasure of meeting Jordan and Liam on several occasions. The commitment to the cause of inclusive education and the fight for that to be brought into legislation is nothing short of inspiring. Two young men—one younger than the other, to be fair—have really made a huge difference in such a short space of time. At the last SNP conference, I watched as many young people stood up to tell extraordinary personal tales of their lives as young LGBTI men or women. The conference then moved a motion to support the TIE pledge, which has been signed, as Monica already said, by the majority of members of this Parliament. The pledge gives the Government a clear mandate for the implementation of inclusive education, and I am hugely supportive. However, as a convener of education, I will work to ensure that we implement it in a way that will be compatible with the thoughts of Scottish education. As we look to close the attainment gap, the Scottish Government is committed to achieving a level playing field for every young person, regardless of race, age, socioeconomic background, gender or sexual orientation. I believe that my committee will help to achieve that in the realms of inclusive education by working closely with the organisations that mention TIE, Quality Networks, Stonewall, LGBT Youth Scotland and teachers and young people in their families. In order for TIE campaign goals to become a reality, we must work with all those organisations and others, and I very much look forward to being part of the journey that will ensure that no LGBTI young person has to face the same trials as that beautiful young girl, my brother and many more who have had to face during their life just because of the ignorance. I am going to finish on a quote that I used during that debate. The true civilisation is where every man gives to every other man every right he claims for himself. I suggest that that includes the right for every child to be fully educated on diversity and inclusion, and on that note, I am delighted to support the motion. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I genuinely thank Monica Lennon for bringing this very important debate this evening. Over the past few years, Jordan and Liam have worked tirelessly to establish and promote the TIE campaign's core message. It has been a privilege to witness their drive and vision first hand and to see some meaningful strides forward in tackling homophobic, biphobic, transphobic attitudes in our schools. I am proud to have played my part in this campaign by signing the campaign's pledge committing to the group's strategy of LGBTI inclusive education, including teacher training, curricular guidance and a requirement for all local authorities to record specific incidents of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in our schools. However, although we should recognise and celebrate progress that we have made in tackling bullying, the fight for LGBTI inclusivity in our schools permits no room for complacency. Research that was published by TIE in August found that 90 per cent of LGBTI people have experienced homophobia, biphobia, transphobia at school. In 95 per cent of LGBTI people believe that bullying has had a long-lasting negative effect upon them. Let us reflect on that for a moment. That is a statistic that should resonate deeply with all of us and should serve as a reminder that the lives of LGBTI people can still be far from equal. I would like to take this opportunity to just talk about my own experience of bullying at school. Before coming to the chamber, I wanted to check with the chamber desk that it was okay to say what I am going to say. Name calling and bullying at both primary and secondary levels was common for me. Those labels of fag and faggot, poof, gay, gay boy, queer, fairy were all too common, whether that was in the playground, whether that was in the classroom or sometimes on the school bus home. Interestingly enough, at both those times, whether it was primary or secondary, I was not even out. I was not openly gay but I was targeted by homophobic bullying. I did not come out until I eventually got to university and felt safer to do so. That kind of bullying has a profound impact on your life, on your self-confidence and your feeling of self-worth. It hurts and it makes it more difficult to accept yourself. Since becoming a member of this place, I have talked to teachers across my region about language. It is interesting that some teachers say that they lack the confidence to address it, that there is a nervousness about dealing with it in the classroom. I have even had some say that they feel that it is difficult because sometimes boys can be boys. In the same way that we do not tolerate derogatory language on race, colour or creed, we should be taking a stand against the use of homophobic language in the classroom. We must not allow the equality-enhancing efforts of the many to be eroded by the prejudice of the few. Instead, we must proactively and expediently stamp out discrimination wherever it rears its ugly head. Prejudice is an epidemic that runs entrenched in our society. While I support the Scottish Government's commitment to form a working group on the Thai campaign's prejudice, I firmly believe that more must be done to eradicate prejudice at every stage, at an early stage, our schools being the natural place to do so. Therefore, providing adequate training for teachers to deliver robust and informative LGBTI education should be seen as paramount. A majority of MSPs have signed the Thai pledge. There is a mandate for action and now the ball is in the Scottish Government's court to take expedient and meaningful action to deliver the proposals that are outlined in the pledge. We need visible and effective leadership to promote equality and eliminate prejudice in the classroom. It is clear that the attainment gap cannot be fully closed until the issue facing LGBTI learners is rectified. LGBTI inclusion in the curriculum can no longer be regarded as merely best practice but rather as an essential component of preparing our young people for life in a modern and inclusive Scotland. I call Christina McKelvie to be followed by Pauline McNeill. Thank you very much. I extend my thanks to Monica Lennon and indeed this Parliament for bringing forward this debate because it has indeed been a cross-parliamentary movement that has supported the Thai campaign. Sometimes there comes a campaign that symbolises the very essence of what the Scottish Parliament was designed for—a unique and representative institution whose fabric is rooted in the values of tolerance, acceptance and openness. The principles of our Parliament are identically mirrored within the Thai campaign. It is only right therefore that we are here this evening both celebrating the remarkable progress of the campaign but also of the great work that has still to be achieved, to make inclusive education and to the eradication of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic bullying and a reality, making that a reality for all of the young people that we have heard so much about already. At this point, it would be remiss of me not to just allow a few moments of reflection upon this campaign and others have already done that too. The campaign with humble beginnings of two unlikely friends, Jordan Daley and Liam Stevenson, who found their voices through the 2014 independence referendum and forged, I believe, a lifelong and everlasting bond. A campaign that was established by two young men who weren't campaigners but merely passionate people with an undeniable cause. A campaign that sparked a national debate of which we are part of, of how we should educate our young people, a campaign that is rooted in the defeat of prejudice and unquestionably has changed the lives of LGBTI young people throughout Scotland, some of them we know. Fundamentally speaking, with no hyperbole about it, the Thai campaign has already saved some young lives and I witnessed some of that work at the Vela Leven academy when we visited with the Equality and Human Rights Committee. To those young LGBTI people who don't feel quite comfortable in their skin, who somehow believe that because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender that makes them less normal, we have a clear message for you today. It's okay, you are loved, you are welcome, you are normal, you are worthy and you have your place alongside us, your brothers and sisters here in Scotland, safe in the knowledge that we are striving to make this country a more tolerant and welcoming nation, defeating the prejudices that make you feel abnormal. It will take some time, we know that, and it will take more of what has already been achieved by this amazing campaign, remarkable as it is, we have still much more to achieve. It will take the collective strength of this Parliament, of this Government, of all of the campaigning groups that are all represented here today. It will take the strength of the young people, including those pupils that I know at Larkhall academy, who have benefited from the Tai campaign in their visits. We need to show how inclusive education is so vital. But, Presiding Officer, the time has come for Tai. The Scottish Parliament has made itself clear that we support the Tai campaign. We support teacher training, we support inclusive education above all else. We unequivocally support those young people who have found their voice thanks to the work of Jordan and Liam and all the other organisations. We will not shy away from the difficult decisions, because there will be some that we know that. We will not be afraid to tackle those who preach ignorance and intolerance. That is precisely why, at SNP conference, with the support of my college, Jenny Gilruth and the SNP Youth movement, we reaffirmed our commitment to the Tai campaign, but we moved an amendment to that. The amendment was that, to move that forward, the Scottish Government should set up a working group. I am hoping that that working group will be set up in order to make the Tai campaign pledges a reality. That is exactly what we strive for—tangible actions that match the principles and the righteous ambitions of the Tai campaign. I am hoping that the minister will be able to give us an update on that policy today. The time has come for action. We have made that abundantly clear. The Parliament has made that abundantly clear. Jordan and Liam, the Tai campaign, LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall and the Youth Parliament have made it abundantly clear. Scotland should make it clear to them. We will be honoured to carry out that work for you, and I look forward to working with you all to realise those ambitions. I thank Monica Lennon for what I thought was a very powerful speech in leading off this debate. It is a privilege to take part in a high-quality debate, which I think means so much to so many people. But credit goes to Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson. I have not had the pleasure of meeting them, but I know that they are campaigners who have lobbied hard for the basic right to be who you are for society to accept who you are from birth through school to work wherever you are in life. To be safe at school while developing and growing into an adult, which, let's face it, is scary at the best of times without having this added thing. Every individual has the right to be safe and to feel safe, but sadly 90 per cent of LGBT people experience homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, 42 per cent of attempted suicide, and 64 per cent of people have been directly bullied just because of who they are. We could go on so many shocking statistics, but all of them illustrate how acute prejudice still is in our schools, and how problematic bullying is, and how far we still have to go. As others have said, it's great that 69 MSPs have signed the campaign pledge, and I think that by all accounts that is a high number. But I do think that we all have a duty here to ensure that the other 59 who haven't signed give us a good reason as to why they haven't. Wouldn't it be a really great thing if, of course, the presiding officers have special rules, but everyone else sent a message that this Parliament is absolutely in the majority at unanimous in saying that we want inclusive education? What the campaign is really asking for is simply for schools to be inclusive by talking about sexual orientation so that young people grow to learn and understand that it is perfectly okay to be lesbian, to be gay, to be bisexual or transgender, and that you will get the support that you need, whatever that is, to make any decisions that you need to make. That's why I think that some of the discussion around ensuring that there's counselling in schools is really important. For those of us who come from professions, know that being able to talk to someone whose job it is and they have some expertise makes a huge difference to that person, and actually talking it through with someone who knows what they're doing can make a real difference to you and your life looking forward. To know that a teacher in your school is not going to judge you for saying who you are, to know that society is not going to judge you, and that I don't actually like using the word tollerate because tollerate sounds a bit of a failure in some ways, but you know what I'm driving at. It's saying that there is a lot of work to be done in educating people that if you are not in that situation, then who really cares if someone is who they want to be? There is nothing worse than bullying. Whether you're lesbian, gay, transgender, anyone who's experienced bullying knows that it's one of the worst horrible things in life. In my school, probably because I was the oldest child in my family, I was always in trouble for taking on bullies, but I don't know that I would have had the same confidence to take on a bully if I didn't believe that my school, my friends, my parents fully supported my choices. In conclusion, there is a lot of work to be done, and I think that there's a lot of very good ideas to ensure that we do the right thing on inclusive education. However, let us work on the other 59 members and ensure that this Parliament, unanimous, but it says that it's time for inclusive education. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also thank Monica Lennon for bringing this debate forward this evening and for the contributions that have already been made. I'm happy to take part in it. Can I start with a very basic point? That any bullying of any kind, whether in school or in the workplace, is absolutely wrong. The experience of my colleague Ross Thompson as he outlined this evening is totally unacceptable and has to be stopped in any form. I was fortunate, Deputy Presiding Officer, that when I was at school, with my disability, I had very limited bullying. Due to the intervention of teachers in my school, it was shut down very quickly and also to the support that I got from many of my former colleagues at school. We in the Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Committee have been looking at the whole issue of bullying in schools, not just in regard to sexuality but in other areas as well. There are some lessons that have come clearly out from the committee that are lessons not only Scottish Government but that we as a Parliament and education need to learn. The first one is that we need to make sure that teachers, headteachers, local authorities feel confident in regard to recording statistics of who is bullied. We have heard some worrying evidence from teachers that they are being told not to record incidents because they do not want their school to look bad. That has to be the wrong way round. Surely, we need to know what is going on at the grass roots so that policy can be dictated by that. I think that we need to look at—this is more for local authorities, although I think that Scottish Government can push from the right direction—how statistics are recorded and encourage teachers to make sure that they are recorded properly. The second area that we need to look at has to do with all areas of bullying is what guidance is given to teachers at teacher training. We have again heard evidence that maybe there is one lesson or one afternoon given over to how a teacher should help a young person who is being bullied or comes forward with an issue regarding gender, sexuality or other areas. If you are off for that one afternoon, you go into the school with no training. To me, that is simply not right. I think that we need to challenge our education institutions to make sure that teachers are properly equipped and have that confidence. That leads on to the point that others have already made. The confidence that teachers need is still to be persuaded. I think that it is a bit of a debate whether there should be one or two teachers in the school that perhaps have that extra training that people should go to, although we have heard that often people have a good relationship with one particular teacher and to be shifted off to the other person might make them feel less uncomfortable. However, I think that it is something that we need to think through and take more evidence perhaps on and say what is the best way for someone to, if they need to talk about sexuality, talk about the gender, talk about race or what other area, they know who to go to and that person is properly equipped. Finally, we need to make sure that what we learn in regard to the campaign is brought across all the character excerpts that I defined. It was interesting that I attended a number of weeks ago, and I have forgotten what group it was. I will be very brief about that. However, one of the EIS members said that, after an incident in his school, he put all the resources into race and all the other characters that we have forgotten about. They have now reared their ugly head. I think that we need to make sure that all character excerpts are covered and that whether it is your faith, your disability, your sexuality, your gender, you have confidence to know that the school will support you in that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr Balfour. I call Ben Macpherson, followed by Ross Greer. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As discussed with the Presiding Officer, I am grateful for your understanding and apologise to colleagues that I will have to leave the debate early due to a prior commitment, so apologies in advance for that. I really wanted to speak in this debate because it is extremely important to me, and I am grateful for that understanding. I also sincerely thank Monica Lennon for bringing this important debate to the Parliament and to also congratulate Jordan Daley and Liam Stevenson on their success for leading the TIE campaign, so strongly and to this point where it is being debated in the Scottish Parliament. I would also like to pay tribute to the Equality Network and LGBT Youth Scotland, both based in my constituency and also to Stonewall and other campaigners for their work and their courage, which has made life easier and better for LGBTI plus individuals in my life, friends and family, and others across Scotland. For creating such a heightened awareness about those issues, about the human rights at the heart of those issues, and about what circumstances LGBTI individuals face on a daily basis, the language that is used, and the attitudes that are unfortunately still amongst us. I was reminded of all of that particularly on Monday when I had the privilege of hosting the TIE campaigners at an event in Leith in my constituency. That event, people of all ages, backgrounds, sexualities, gender identities and ethnicities, had the opportunity to find out more about why the TIE campaign is so important. What struck me on Monday was not only the work that still needs to be done, but there is also action already being undertaken that we can build on. At that event on Monday, I spoke with teachers who attended to find out more about what they were doing in their schools and how they were creating greater inclusion around education proactively. I found out that, at the moment, those teachers and schools had set up their own LGBTI groups, had established their own LGBTI point of contact, had set up a shared staff drive with an assortment of resources and posters for each subject, in-house, after-school training and police officer visits to discuss what to do when you experience or witness LGBTI bullying or behaviour. Local authorities have their own initiatives and, internationally, UNICEF is piloting their rights respecting schools programme and many are adopting that. The proactive work that teachers and pupils are driving forward themselves is both commendable and inspiring. One high school in my constituency that is doing work on this is Leitha academy. I went along to their LGBTI history month celebration with LGBTI Youth Scotland recently and found out there that older pupils are doing great work in classrooms. However, what struck me on that evening was who is going to take up that work when older pupils leave or when staff members leave. That is why the TIE campaign is so important, because it is about how we work towards a comprehensive and consistent system of inclusive education in LGBTI plus support in all our schools. What if, today, I am going forward, you are one of those unlucky ones and there is no support and network in your school on those issues? The TIE campaign is leading with courage and I am proud that this Parliament, on a cross-party basis, is working with them. This is a human rights issue and a holistic approach to inclusive education is required. I commend the TIE campaign for leading us towards this collective goal for the benefit of all of Scottish society and younger and future generations. Let us, from today, continue to take steps forward together as a Parliament and as a society, with the Scottish Government, with the TIE campaigners, with other campaigners, with educators and with communities. From today, let us work together to take meaningful and effective steps forward to make the difference necessary to improve the circumstances for young LGBTI people growing up around us in our country. I thank Monica Lennon for bringing the debate forward. I also thank Jordan and Liam for their campaigning and Colin Karra, the folks at the Transgender Alliance, and all the young people who have been driving the campaign forward so successfully. It has been almost 17 years since section 28 was repealed in Scotland. An entire generation, my generation, has been through education in that time and yet we still do not have equality in our schools. The experiences of LGBT young people in Scotland today cannot be denied. I have heard, I am sure, that we have all heard first hand the experiences that so many have had. The situation is shocking and we are capable of changing it. Nine in 10 LGBTI people have experienced homophobic, biphobic or transphobic language, bullying and so on in their schools. One in four have attempted suicide some multiple times. Eight in 10 teachers do not feel that they are adequately trained on how to deal with that. We cannot simply do nothing and hope that the problem solves itself. We in this Parliament have made great strides towards equality, most recently and most notably legislating for marriage equality in the last session, but we cannot pretend that we are there yet and we cannot pretend that the atmosphere in our schools has just followed on from the atmosphere in this Parliament. It has not been enough to just repeal section 28. Far more must be done, and the Government has a mandate to act. As has been mentioned multiple times, a majority of MSPs across all parties have now signed the TIE campaigns pledge. Given the recent vote at the SNP's party conference, I would like to take the opportunity to ask the ministers if they are able to confirm when the working group on inclusive education will be set up, what its remit and its membership will be and when it will report back. The TIE campaign, among others, has already been absolutely clear. The working group must lead to tangible action, it must not be delayed, it must not be drawn out unnecessarily and it must have a clear purpose and the freedom to come to the conclusions that the evidence leads it to. Every young person deserves a sex and relationship education that is relevant to them, whoever they are. All young people should learn about the variety and validity of all relationships. That is how we tackle stigma and hatred. That is how we show that every young person that they are valued. There are some resources and curriculum for excellence that are LGBT inclusive, but we know that they are just not reaching most classrooms. Too often, LGBT relationships are reduced to a brief mention in PSE, if they are mentioned at all, personal and social education. Unfortunately, that is an area of curriculum that is often dismissed by pupils, not taken seriously. That is why I have been pushing for action on PSE through the education committee. From the evidence that the committee has gathered, it is quite clear that that is not being delivered with consistency across the country. It is a postcode lottery, whether you learn about consent, whether you get an LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education, whether you learn about mental health or employment skills or a range of other issues. That is just not good enough. Teacher training both initially and throughout their careers will go a long way, as will an effective record of all instance of homo, bi and transphobic bullying. However, we need action to ensure that every young person is guaranteed an inclusive education. A number of members have made mention already of local councils and their roles. The council elections are coming up, and it is one thing for those of us who are here today, taking part in this debate, to give our voice our support to this campaign. A majority of MSPs might have signed the Thai campaign pledge, but we are not yet at a stage where we can say that every party in this Parliament is not putting forward candidates who will oppose the equality agenda. There are people on the ballot paper in three weeks' time who will oppose this agenda in their local authority. That is unacceptable. That is something for every party in this Parliament to take on. We need to learn from the success stories that are out there. We need to learn from the likes of Vale of Leven academy in my region who are leading the way on LGBT inclusion, not just in their curriculum but throughout every aspect of their school life. I look forward to seeing some concrete proposals from the working group that is being set up on how those aims will be brought forward, because our LGBT young people cannot afford to wait any longer. I first came across the Thai campaign shortly after arriving in the Parliament last May. Admittedly, I was rather cautious at first. I overwhelmed in favour of many LGBT causes, as you might know, but the guys at Thai had a very different approach. Their steely determination perhaps manifested itself in a way in which a politician might naturally but perhaps cautiously listen to them. I saw them march at Glasgow Pride. I marched a few feet behind them. I had no doubt that their intentions were good, but I did not really know much about what they were trying to achieve. I would say that it has been a bit of a personal journey for me in that respect. Bann wagons are all too easy, often too easy to jump on and jump off in the world of lobbying, and being seen to do the right thing is very different from wanting to do the right thing, but I want to do the right thing. Through very thoughtful assessment of their aims, I am very pleased and proud to have put my name to their pledge. We have so little time this evening to get into the nitty gritty of what an inclusive education system might look like and what it might mean. There are very difficult questions that have to be answered, but they ought to be answered. Let's be honest with ourselves. How do we take into account faith skills in this discussion? I went to a Catholic school when I was young, and neither sex nor relationships were very high on the agenda. Times have changed. That is true. In fact, as I drove past my local high school co-winning academy the other day, I was pleased to see a rainbow flag flying outside the school, something that I would never have dreamed of when I was young. It is my hope that we can positively engage with schools of all faiths and of none so that we win this argument because it is the right outcome, not a reluctant outcome. Besides, you can be gay and have faith too. I was bullied at school for being gay, and I think that there is no point in sharing my story because it is almost identical to the one that my colleague Ross Thompson described when he was young. That is quite sad in many ways, but it is also very sad that, 20 odd years later, there is still an issue. To give the Thai campaign credit, it came to the table with ideas. Those ideas now require robust action. Yes, there are issues to address. How do we ensure that teachers are adequately equipped and trained to deal with the subject matter? Who pays for the training and the materials? Where will they find time to do so? What do we say to teachers who are perhaps reluctant to do so? Who will monitor the progress? How do we measure bullying? Where in the curriculum will all this sit comfortably? I am under absolutely no illusions that there are difficult obstacles to overcome, but we must overcome them. We will be continuing this discussion at this evening's LGBTI cross-party group. I offer an open invitation to any MSP or Government minister who is interested in the subject to join us this evening if time permits or anytime in the future, you would be most welcome. I wish to Thai campaign every success in its quest, but I also implore the Scottish Government to take heed of the fact that over 50 per cent of MSPs in this place have signed their pledge, and it cannot be ignored. First, I thank Monica Lennon for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The First Minister has said that inclusion is the guiding principle for everything that we do. As we have heard today from across the chamber, the moving and passionate speeches, the Thai campaign is doing an amazing job of following that principle by tackling discrimination and bullying of LGBTI people in schools. I congratulate Jordan and Liam, whose commitment totally blew me away when we first met. As well as extensive campaigning, Thai offers free assemblies, teacher training and seminars across Scotland to promote LGBTI inclusion in schools. I am absolutely delighted that the Scottish Government has agreed to work with Thai to promote inclusive education in schools and believe that that will have a huge impact on future generations. Sadly, our schools are still a focal point of LGBTI discrimination and bullying. Many LGBTI children throughout Scotland are terrified of going to school, a place where they are terrorised for simply being themselves. Children are harming themselves as a direct result of the abuse that they are receiving in schools when they should be planning their future, some are planning their deaths. Stonewall Scotland's research has found that one in four of LGBTI children bullied in schools have attempted suicide. No one should be subjected to that. In conjunction with Thai, we can now bring more inclusivity into education to discourage the ignorance and bigoted views that are at the heart of the discrimination. It is the least that we can do for our children and it is overdue. That discrimination in bullying does not just affect life in school. Those experiences have been emotionally and physically abused. Of children being forced to reject their identity to try and assimilate, it has long-lasting effects. 95 per cent of LGBTI people believe that their experiences in school had negative effects on them. Scotland is regarded as the best country in Europe for LGBTI equality. That is an incredible success. I believe that by pledging to promote inclusivity, we will be the world leader. To monitor and ensure progression, Thai's pledge calls for information and steps to increase LGBTI inclusivity to be collected at local authority level. I totally agree with Jeremy Balfour when he spoke on that issue. At a time when children should be building and developing their conference, many are being broken down. We all have a collective responsibility to ensure that that never happens to any child. The Thai campaign uses the slogan, hashtag be that voice. Together we all need to be one voice to change this completely unnecessary but immeasurably damaging discrimination in Scottish schools. That is why I say again that I am delighted that our Government has agreed to work with Thai and others to promote education in schools, and I look forward to seeing that coming forward as soon as possible. We must end this horrible discrimination and get it right for every child now. We cannot wait any longer. I thank Monica Lennon for bringing this very important debate to the chamber today. She is absolutely right to say that this Parliament should not be a Parliament of bystanders. Indeed, on any issue, but particularly on equal rights, it is something that we have a proud record on, but there is much work to do on her debate tonight and it really does testify to that. I have listened very carefully to the debate and wholeheartedly agreed that a fully inclusive approach to education for all is absolutely essential. Monica Lennon's point that we need to be mindful of those just home from school or preparing to get on the school bus tomorrow is absolutely correct. They should be in our thoughts as we go through this debate, but as we move forward to action. I want to congratulate everyone involved in the time for inclusive education campaign for successfully raising the profile and the priority of issues fundamental to our children and to young people's wellbeing. Jordan and Liam have been congratulated many times during this debate. I know that their work will continue long after the debate today is finished, but I hope that they will take time to reflect and take pleasure from what they have done and the work that they have achieved so far. The essence of every child and every young person having the right to grow up to be the person that they are and want to be is absolutely crucial. They have the right to expect to be supported to do so too, to be treated fairly and equally by adults and their peers alike, so I want to reiterate this Government's support for the aims of the campaign and to welcome Ty's achievement that is very rarely done and is often elusive in this Parliament since last May. A near unanimous cross-party support and a key policy issue is something that we can all learn from. Inclusive education is a key component of relationships, sexual health and parenthood education. RSHP education is an integral part of health and wellbeing in the curriculum in Scotland. The health and wellbeing of our children and young people is fundamental. That is why it is at the heart of our child's learning, it is at the centre of our curriculum and it is a central focus of the Scottish attainment challenge and the national improvement framework for education. Along with literacy, it is one of the core areas that are the responsibility of all staff in a school. The national policy, better relationships, better learning, better behaviour contains priority actions that support local authorities and schools to further improve relationships and behaviour in their learning communities. That is central to the delivery of curriculum for excellence and the implementation of getting it right for every child. The main area of importance in today's debate is relationships, sexual health and parenthood education. As I have said, it is an integral part of health and wellbeing aspects of our curriculum in Scotland. Children and young people should gain knowledge appropriate to their age, stage and education. RSHP is intended to enable children and young people to build positive relationships as they grow older. The learning experience should be delivered in an objective, a balance and a sensitive manner within a framework of sound values and an awareness of the law on sexual behaviour. In 2014, the Scottish Government published guidance on the conduct of RSHP education in schools. It clearly states how important it is that RSHP education addresses diversity and reflects issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people or children. However, we recognise that we can and must do more, and that is why we have given the commitment to work with the TAI campaign. That is why the Government announced just an hour ago the creation of a new LGBT inclusive education working group to help to bring key educators together with TAI to identify where improvements can be made. The new working group will be chaired by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and will include membership from across the education and third sector spectrum, including TAI, LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall Scotland, the Scottish Catholic Education Service, the EIS and the Scottish Youth Parliament. I am confident that the group has the right expertise and understanding to explore in detail where we can improve the education experience for our LGBTI young people and move forward to action. Ross Greer also mentioned the remit and asked for further details on that. It is not for me to go through that detail. It will be discussed at the first meeting, which I understand should be in early May. However, the group will look to work together to identify how we can improve the education experience for LGBTI young people in Scotland. It is also not a useful step for a Government minister to put a particular timescale on how a working group should work and should conduct itself. It needs to be given the time and the space to look at the issues that are important. However, I do not see that being a long, drawn-out process that the young people that we discussed earlier deserve better than that. Given the way that the campaign has gone to date, I do not think that it will be done in such a manner anyway. Monica Lennon I appreciate the announcement that the minister has drawn her attention to during the debate. Given that the working group will have many experts taking part, is it the intention of Government to implement any recommendations that are forthcoming at the end of the working group? Monica Lennon I am not going to prejudge any of the work that goes on from a working group before it has had its first meeting. We will certainly look very closely and carefully at everything that comes from that working group. We will keep a close eye on the work as it develops to ensure that we can take aspects forward. I am very aware that it is action that is required rather than just simply a working group. Members will also be aware that the recently published mental health strategy includes an action for the Scottish Government to undertake a national review of personal and social education. Initial planning on that review is under way, and we will make sure that those two review areas work very closely together. Alongside that work, we should remember that the Scottish Government's refreshed anti-bullying national guidance is at an advanced stage. The Equalities and Human Rights Committee is considering that as part of its work on bullying, and we will carefully consider the committee's advice on that and any suggestions on what more can be done before we publish the revised guidance. In addition, we provided funding to LGBT Youth Scotland to work collaboratively with respect to me, Scotland's anti-bullying service, to develop an online resource and deliver practice seminars to address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in Scottish schools. The recently delivered seminars in Aire and Edinburgh, for example, have been well attended and delegates report a significance increase in their knowledge and confidence to address prejudice-based bullying. Following the publication of the anti-bullying guidance later this year, we have plans to update the toolkit for teachers dealing with homophobic bullying in Scotland's schools. That brings me on to a crucial area in our quest to address bullying and the skills and dedication of our teaching workforce and their intensive knowledge of their school community will ensure that those guidance documents are embedded in school policy rights across Scotland. I am conscious of time. I am aware that my speech tonight has focused on policy and procedure, as often ministerial responses have to do, but the essence of the debate tonight has been highlighted most eloquently by other speakers. Monica Lennon's discussions of her friend James Dornan's brother, Office Manager's family, Ross Thomson and Jamie Greene's discussion have really summed up why the issue is so important and why action is so important. When Christina McKelvie talked quite rightly about the need to stress that everyone is loved, it is what it really does boil down to. I welcome the cross-party support in this Parliament on the issue and want us to work together to deliver our shared commitment to an inclusive education. We all have a responsibility to support our children and young people to be confident and proud of who they are, to know that they are valued and that they are loved, that they will be treated equally and fairly and that we should settle for nothing less.