Reflections on the co-development of ESOL teaching material exploring LGBT lives

In recent years, the place of sexuality and gender identity in the ESOL classroom has been the subject of much debate among UK-based ESOL practitioners. This has partly been prompted by changes in the UK legal context: the 2010 Equality Act identifies a variety of settings, including education, where discrimination, harassment or victimisation on the basis of nine protected characteristics is explicitly forbidden; these protected characteristics include sexual orientation, gender identity and marriage status. This chapter reflects on the co-development of the resource ‘Engaging with LGBT and Migrant Equalities: Activities for the ESOL Classroom’, which aimed to address the dearth of LGBT representations in commercial ELT material. Its development was informed by conversations with Scotland-based ESOL practitioners about their practice and about how the resource might build on and fit into current delivery. The chapter considers the resonance and limitations of the resource, and the potential questions these raise for critical LGBT-friendly pedagogies.