LGBTQ+ Education Can Help Create a Path to Active Inclusion and Safety
Interviews
By Christina Peach, Associate Director and member of the LGBTQ+ community and Hannah Cambridge, Director and ally to LGBTQ+ community
After attending a candlelit vigil for a 16-year-old transgender girl Brianna Ghey who was killed on 11 February, and listening to members of the community chant ‘education saves lives’, it hit home; our actions must speak louder than our words of support and solidarity for the community, and how LGBTQ+ education can help create a path to active inclusion, equity and most importantly, safety.
LGBTQ+ History Month is a stark reminder that despite the strides made by the community and its allies, government policy and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in the media are preventing LGBTQ+ communities from living their lives to the full and leading to harmful discourse.
In 2019, a landmark ruling mandated that LGBTQ+ inclusive relationships and sex education (RSE) would be compulsory in all secondary schools in England and Wales, in addition to primary schools teaching children about LGBTQ+ families. While the policy was welcomed by the community and allies alike, it was also stymied by the opposition, with petitions still circulating for the removal of LGBTQ+ RSE from the curriculum.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. In the context of LGBTQ+ education, the perils of omitting its rich history from the curriculum breeds heteronormativity. It leaves current and future generations at a deficit, without the opportunity to take part in important, healthy, safe conversations and lacking understanding of LGBTQ+ experiences and themes. Identity should not be controversial or divisive. It is only by learning about the history of the community, its contributions, and the dimensions of LGBTQ+ identities and relationships that we can help to future-proof acceptance and ensure the safety of individuals that identify as LGBTQ+.
Image source: Canva
Practical action you can take today
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community these are steps you can take to push for equality
- Mentorship – LGBTQ+ people are more likely to feel comfortable and fulfil their potential if they are exposed to visible role models. If you are in a position to be able to offer guidance or mentor an individual that identifies as LGBTQ+, it can be a rewarding experience for all. Equally, partnering with an ally to discuss the ways in which they can best support the community is also a way to drive education and understanding.
- Celebrate and connect with others in the community – If you have the capacity, get out of your comfort zone and connect with others from the community. It's important to learn from each other so we can understand how best to support one another. There is a whole host of groups, classes and social events that can help you hear and share different perspectives and even make new friends.
Allies, you are needed more than ever, here are our tips to stand up for the LGBTQ+ community
- Challenge yourself – There is a lot in the mainstream media about LGBT+ communities. Unfortunately, a lot of this is clickbait, extreme, misleading and toxic. It fails to educate well or with a voice of calm and healthy debate. Challenge yourself to recognise if you’re seeing the same narrative over and over. If you are, read something different, listen to a new podcast, watch something you wouldn’t normally on TV. Take note of your newsfeed and explore how you could broaden your sources of information. Why not listen to the people whose everyday lives are really impacted? You really have nothing to lose but think about how much you have to gain, the impact that could have on those around you and generations to come. If we all did this, just a little bit more, it would make us more powerful allies, to feel confident in the conversations we are having. Use LGBT+ month as a way to identify new sources of information and communities to hear from.
- Shut up and listen – Being an ally is absolutely about taking a stand, being active. But don’t forget the importance of listening and pausing too. During LGBT+ history month you may hear more stories, different history and new lived experiences. Really actively listen and when you hear something, absorb it and feel what someone is sharing.
- Be more active – If you’re lucky enough to be around people who are finding their voice or sharing their experience, make sure that can happen. Speak up if someone is stopping them, cutting them off, doubting or questioning them. Share your own platform or totally hand it over to someone else. Encourage other allies to listen and learn and be supportive of members of the community who want to share.
- Think beyond LGBTQ+ - people’s gender, identify, sexual preferences, it’s all important and part of who we are. But it isn’t all we are. LBGT+ History Month doesn’t just mean learning about the history of gender and sex, these communities contributed to who we all are and the world we live in, in so many ways that have little or nothing to do with how they identify. Know those stories, learn about those people and play your role in normalising that anyone can be anything. And please, please don’t only talk to those who identify as LGBT+ about being LGBT+!
