Words by Smiley Team
It’s been 16 years since Schools OUT UK, an LGBT+ education charity, first launched its annual awareness month to inform people about queer culture throughout history. This year, Schools OUT is celebrating LGBT+ History Month with a series of free educational resources. These include posters and factsheets as well as resources written for primary school children by John Yates-Harold, a primary school headteacher and one of the first names to appear on the World Pride Power List in 2012.
Available as free downloads from the Schools OUT website, the resources will help teachers and young people engage with the incredible stories of past LGBT+ heroes. Their Five Faces information pack celebrates the achievements of lesbian poet, actor and activist Maya Angelou, lesbian footballer Lily Parr, transgender man Mark Weston, transgender physician Michael Dillon, and founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Mark Ashton.
Promotions officer for Schools OUT and LGBT+ History Month Andrew Dobbin explained: “When I was at school in the 1980s, at the start of the AIDS pandemic, I had no role models, no heroes, nobody LGBT+ to look to or look up to. Now, if I were at school, I would. Kids today know who Alan Turing was, who Justin Fashanu was, and they can see how our nation treated them and know that that must never happen again.”
Schools OUT originated as a social support group for educators back in 1974. Originally called The Gay Teachers' Group, they offered support and advice at a time when being a gay or lesbian teacher was a sackable offence and, as Dobbin explained, “Trans wasn't on the radar then, and bisexuality was taken even less seriously than today.”
Dobbin recalled how Section 28, a government clause which censored homosexuality from public discourse, prompted a great backlash in the group. He continued: “Sue Sanders, who went on to become co-Chair, remembers destroying several photocopiers and running up huge amounts of parking fines in her efforts to get anti-clause literature out and gathering support to the protests against the Act.
“After the Act was repealed by the Blair government, we thought 'Great! That's it. Crisis over.' Unfortunately, it soon became clear that homophobic bullying and heteronormative attitudes were as strong as ever in education.”
This is what prompted Sanders and her co-Chair, Paul Patrick, to lead a campaign promoting queer identity in a similar form to Black History Month. Their efforts expanded into other projects such as The Classroom resource website for teachers, and their affiliated February event, OUTing The Past, an international festival of LGBT+ history.
Those interested in supporting their cause can buy one of Schools OUT’s 2021 badges and lanyards, the most vital source of funding for their work. Badges bought in bulk quantities, for a workplace LGBT+ network group, for example, are purchasable at a reduced price per item.
All of these initiatives and their maintenance are only possible thanks to a team of unpaid volunteers. For more information about volunteering opportunities visit schools-out.org.uk.
