Celebrating our queerness beyond Pride with the LGBTQ+ Award
When I was asked to write this blog as part of Pride month, I thought about the sort of things that I’d want to read as a queer person during Pride. I thought about how it’s so vitally important to make sure these conversations are always live and always at the forefront our minds beyond this month, and I thought about how proud I am as a queer person to be a part of an Award that works to do just that: To make a meaningful, ongoing, and sustainable difference to the lives of LGBTQ+ staff, young people and parents beyond one celebratory moment.
When I was asked to write this blog as part of Pride month, I thought about the sort of things that I’d want to read as a queer person during Pride. I thought about how it’s so vitally important to make sure these conversations are always live and always at the forefront our minds beyond this month, and I thought about how proud I am as a queer person to be a part of an Award that works to do just that: To make a meaningful, ongoing, and sustainable difference to the lives of LGBTQ+ staff, young people and parents beyond one celebratory moment.
Of course, it’s important we do have our moment as the spaces we operate in (especially in the education sector) are taken up by a cis-het majority and we see the ways in which homogeneity prevails day in day out (just have a Google of the word ‘headteacher’ to see what I mean).
The LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Education Award strives for better and encourages the schools we work with to do the same. For some when thinking about LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools, it’s a case of ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’ and ‘we don’t know even know where to start’. The Award provides those staff with a structure and a framework to support them as they begin to make the necessary changes in their school. The award is evidence-based and focuses on the eight key areas that we know need to be reviewed in order for a school environment to become truly LGBTQ+ inclusive. Those are:
Governance
Leadership and Strategy
Working in partnership with parents
Working in partnership with students
Professional development and training
The Physical environment
The Emotional environment
The Curriculum
We don’t believe that true LGBTQ+ inclusion can exist without these eight areas being reviewed and adapted. Take Pride for example, it’s not enough that the physical environment is filled with rainbow flags and pictures of Marsha P. Johnson, the emotional environment must also align with that. Staff must feel ready and equipped to support LGBTQ+ young people to explore, express and embrace their identities in a safe and welcoming environment. It’s also not enough for a few queer staff to be leading an LGBTQ+ group for young people, the governing body must have someone dedicated to understanding how LGBTQ+ inclusion is progressing in school and they must have access to the data (both qualitative and quantitative) to understand the full picture.
‘Staff must feel ready and equipped to support LGBTQ+ young people to explore, express and embrace their identities in a safe and welcoming environment.’
I’m the lead coach for the Award and I’ve been blown away by the work that some schools have done from a standing start to make changes for the better – it isn’t easy, but those who are committed and have leadership backing have achieved incredible things for their LGBTQ+ communities.
This work is so important and I feel extremely privileged to be a part of it. I see my queerness as something in my heart and mind, not just something on a flag or a logo on LinkedIn occasionally. I recognise that that mindset pushes me even further out in to the margins, and I accept the challenges that come with not striving to hit the cis-het normative milestones which we’ve been conditioned to expect of one another, and the ways in which the path I’ve chosen deems me less valuable in a capitalist society. I also know that doing anything other than what I’m doing now would reduce me to a person that many people wanted me to be and not the person I actually am.
Whilst at 37, as the lead coach for the LGBTQ+ Award, the co-founder of LGBTed and someone who lives an incredibly authentic life personally and professionally, I still feel daunted by the road less travelled that lies ahead of me, less worn-down footpaths, fewer how-to guides and fewer role models. But, like all my queer friends and colleagues, once this month is over, and the logos turn to monochrome once again, we’ll dust off our armour, remember all the ways in which we are valued and ready ourselves for the journey. Because you don’t come out once and then it’s done, you come out every day, in every new conversation, with every new team and every new class, with every conversation on the phone to the customer service advisor – it’s relentless.
‘Pride month helps us to showcase the beauty that exists within our community, it sheds the light on our history and, hopefully, it raises awareness that there is so much more to do.’
Pride month helps us to showcase the beauty that exists within our community, it sheds the light on our history and, hopefully, it raises awareness that there is so much more to do. However, for me, Pride month is every month and for those schools doing this well, it’s every month for them too. The Award helps people make that shift away from tokenism and towards truly embedding and celebrating LGBTQ+ experiences throughout school culture. I can’t imagine how different my school life would have been if this Award had existed then, and I feel incredibly reassured that it does now for all of the young LGBTQ+ people in schools across the country just wanting to be proud every single day.
Please get in touch with lgbtqnetwork@leedsbeckett.ac.uk to find out how to sign up for the LGBTQ+ award.
More details can be found here: www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/centre-for-lgbtq-inclusion-in-education/