Manchester set for UK's first LGBT school

Based in the centre of the city, the school will initially take around 40 full-time pupils and will also have some part-time places for young people who want to continue attending a mainstream school.

Amelia Lee, strategic director for LGBT Youth North West, the organisation behind the initiative, told CYP Now the hope is that the school will act as a “trailblazer” that other areas can replicate.

A feasibility study into the plans is currently being conducted after the charity was handed £63,000 in grant funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) community assets and services grants programme.

Lee said the idea for the specialist school has received the backing of Manchester City Council, and will form part of the city’s alternative provision offer.

Although it is primarily designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people who struggle in mainstream schools, it will also be open to any other children wishing to attend.

“This will provide for LGBT young people who don’t feel they fit in the mainstream,” Lee said.

“In Manchester in December we had a girl called Lizzie [Elizabeth Lowe] who committed suicide in a park because she was struggling with coming out and was worried about telling her parents.

“There was another girl with a similar story in Bolton.