February is LGBT+ history month! It was founded by Schools Out in 2005 as a celebration of LGBT+ history and to ensure that children were receiving this education in school where so often they were not. The theme for this year is ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’.
This time of year takes us back to 1988 when Section 28 was made law, which prevented teachers talking about same sex relationships in schools, often forcing teachers and others to deny their sexuality and possibly losing their jobs. All the while the backdrop to this was the HIV/AIDS crisis, leading to futher marginalisation of this community. Section 28 was successfully repealed in 2000, however the repercusions of it still remain, with similar narratives of ‘protecting children’ being used today to deny them of a well rounded education, inclusive of LGBT+ history.
Discrimination, hate crime and abuse are still rife in the country with further mobilisation of anti LGBT+ groups and pro-conversion therapy. This demonstrates the continued need for history month to ensure the voices of the LGBT+ community are never silenced but are instead valued.
LGBT+ history month isn’t just for schools or children, there’s lots of opportunities for everyone to learn.
You can download and display in your workplace the ‘Voices and Visibility’ wall chart which is downloadable here: Wall-Chart-A0_V7.6.pdf (lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk)
There is also further stories from the LGBT+ community available here: STO-the legacy book (stonewall.org.uk)
There are various resources available via Stonewall in their elearning section, including a workshop on delivering LGBT+ inclusive services wich is available here: STO-the legacy book (stonewall.org.uk)
With the popularity of the current Channel 4 show ‘It’s a Sin’ and it’s portrayal of the HIV crisis, Yorkshire MESMAC are running a session on the impact of HIV within the LGBT+ community across Yorkshire which you can register for here: A short history of HIV within the LGBT+ Community Tickets, Sun 28 Feb 2021 at 15:00 | Eventbrite and are also running a session on LGBT+ awareness which you can register for here: LGBT+ Awareness Tickets, Mon 15 Feb 2021 at 14:00 | Eventbrite
JD
The Equality Blog 
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