“At the school I went to none of the students or teachers were gay,” said no one, ever. Or if they did, they were deep in denial, because it simply isn’t true.
And yet, growing up in the 80s, I wouldn’t have known that. Homosexuality was so taboo that nobody spoke about it, and not just because of Section 28.
It is sad to think back on this. But, if I am being really honest, the pattern has continued for most of my teaching career, too. I could count on my fingers the number of teachers and students who have been “out” at the schools I have worked in.
However, something exciting has happened this year. One of our amazing teachers, Kat Mant, decided that we, like thousands of other schools across the UK, should break these unspoken taboos and mark School Diversity Week (2-6 July in 2018) - the celebration of LGBTQA+ equality in education organised by the charity Just Like Us - and host our very first Pride.
London Pride might be happening this Saturday, but it’s never too late to hold your own. Here are some suggestions on how you might do this, based on our own preparations:
Organise a march
Ours will be happening this Friday. At lunchtime, participating pupils and members of staff will march from the sixth-form area to the main school reception. People of all sexualities will be joining in.
Get messages into registers, get posters up about what Pride is and why it is important. You can get a brilliant free resource pack from Just Like Us and can show this video from prime minister Theresa May in tutor time or assemblies.
Work with existing school groups
In the run-up to Pride, my long-established journalism group have written articles on every aspect of LGBTQA+ they could think of: homophobic language; the history of Stonewall; the meaning of the “+” symbols; and celebrities who are out as gay. Students who are out have also written pieces giving advice to others. The articles have been collated into a rainbow booklet to hand out at Friday’s march. Meanwhile, the science club have been working on applying different scientific methods to create rainbows.
Create badges
Buy a lot of rainbow ribbon and make sure that you have plenty of safety pins to make rainbow badges for bystanders who want to join the march on the day. We have already made plenty and have put these in a bowl in reception for students and teachers to help themselves to.
Plan your soundtrack
No Pride is complete without some banging tunes. Get a soundtrack organised so that the march has a beat and feels really positive. You could even ask music students or the school orchestra to provide a live soundtrack to the event.
Decorate the halls
Create some banners and position these along the parade route. Our LGBTQA+ group have been mainly responsible for this - making huge rainbow banners with messages of support and love on them. Some of these will go up in the hall and some will be carried by students as they march.
You should also try to get yourselves a Pride flag. Ours cost £6 from Amazon, but you could get textiles or art students making their own. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, as long as you can hoist it with pride.
Carry it on
From organising Pride this year, we have already learned so much about how to make it bigger and better next year. We are all so excited that it is taking place for the first time. One of our senior leaders even described it as a “seminal moment” for the school, and, I have to say, I agree. I am very proud to be involved with our school Pride, and I hope you can be, too.
Katie White is an English teacher in Devon
