I'm guessing maybe you were probably cis-hetero? No judgment if that's the case, the vast majority of people will be fine in that regime. However, when I was growing up we did have non typical kids in class and they were very much picked on. Non typical gender alignment wasn't talked about so the only words kids had at the time were "weird" and "funny" along with whatever stuff they picked up from the early internet porn sites and magazines. It wasn't great.
The thing we have to realize is the would is a bit different now. Before we just assumed these people didn't exist and that became a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. Now we better understand this reality and the consequences of ignoring them as well as the options available for helping them.
When I was growing up, kids were picked on for anything and everything. I think we can decouple "teaching kids not to bully" from "teaching any particular gender/sexual ideology".
We did have kids looking weird, but nobody picked on them because of this. I think the school's responsibility is forbid bulling, for whatever reasons.
The thing we have to realize is the would is a bit different now. Before we just assumed these people didn't exist and that became a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. Now we better understand this reality and the consequences of ignoring them as well as the options available for helping them.