The Internet Is Rejoicing At This Inclusive Maths Problem In an Irish Textbook

Four little words in an Irish maths textbook have made the world of difference. 

“Craig buys his boyfriend”. 

A screengrab of a maths problem shared on Twitter is going viral this week, highlighting how far we’ve come with representation, but also how far we have to go. 

The maths problem, featured in the textbook ‘Active Maths’ reads: 

‘Craig buys his boyfriend a birthday present that costs €215.65 including VAT @13.5%. What was the original bill before VAT was added?’ 

Friend of mine is a teacher and just sent this to our WhatsApp group saying she’d never seen anything like it before. ????????????‍❤️‍????‍???? pic.twitter.com/ZRJFmHOIRP

— Paul Ryder (@RuPaulRyder) April 16, 2018

While it’s refreshing to see a gay couple as the subject of a maths problem, it’s a stark reminder of just how heteronormative the educational system still is. 

This is fab. Small things like this help to unpick the heteronormative programming that our kids are subjected to on a daily basis. ❤️????

— Alex Bryce (@Alex_FeisBryce) April 17, 2018

Users rushed to celebrate the small win. 

Makes me smile to see how far things have come since I was in school which was a shite experience for me. ????????

— Paul Ryder (@RuPaulRyder) April 17, 2018

Such a small thing that’s such a big step ????????☺️

— ???????????????????????????????? (@LewDowd) April 16, 2018

Ok had to read this several times. Assumed it was on twitter as the VAT rate was wrong !! But nothing is wrong and it’s all rather wonderful .

— Robin Davis (@RobinD100) April 17, 2018