Page 6 - Fyne winter 2014

Celebrating being LGBT with
Andrew Dobbin, Promotions Office for
School’s OUT and LGBT History Month,
introduces the history of Schools Out, a
pioneering organisation that is the driving
force behind LGBT History Month.
“Being run mostly by teachers, for teachers,
Schools OUT UK has credibility in its field
that belies its tiny size (a steering committee
of between 12 and 20 people). The nationally
recognised LGBT History Month initiative
was started by them in 2005 and has been
extensively praised by Labour , Lib Dem and
Conservative party leaders, and they have
worked with the Metropolitan Police; The
Ministry of Justice and Crown prosecution
Services and others on numerous guidance
initiatives to do with hate crime and LGBT
issues, as well as regularly contributing
articles, expertise and informed opinion
for TV, radio and other media.
They have marched and
demonstrated their belief in
equality and diversity.
And we do it all voluntarily.
We are Schools OUT UK,
and I joined last year as
promotions Officer. In 1996,
Schools OUT began
training for school
teachers under the
name Chrysalis.
In 2007, a
dynamic music
teacher called
Elly Barnes,
who had
been
doing
astounding things at her school in Stoke
Newington, practically eradicating
homophobia and transphobia by
implementing LGBT History Month
throughout her school, made a presentation
at the launch at The Royal Courts of
Justice. Her Educate and Celebrate training
initiative was soon affiliated to Schools OUT,
expanding after the premature death of Paul
Patrick (1950 – 2008) who was co-chair with
Sue Sanders. In 2012 Elly was voted Number
1 on the Independent on Sunday’s Pink
List, the 101 most influential LGBT people
in the UK. Her programme continues to be
praised by Ofsted as offering ‘best practice’
to make schools LGBT-friendly. She is now
an advisor to Birmingham City Council.
Speaking in an interview for Pink Parenting
Magazine in May, Elly said: “We are not born
homophobic and transphobic …acceptance…
can ultimately only come from education. If
we don’t start to talk about this openly then
children will think that something is wrong
or different and that is how the bullying can
start.”
Everyone working for Schools OUT
agrees to implement strategies to deal with
homophobic and transphobic behaviour is
intrinsically a failure. The perpetrators have
already developed their bigotry. The victims
are invisibilised by the heterosexism of
society – the lack of prominent LGBT role
models, and the perception of heterosexuality
as a superior trait, so the bully is empowered
for exactly the same reason. Usualising is
simply that – getting someone used to the
idea that there are LGBT people in the
world; that they are not unusual; a fact which
needs no discussion and so none is accepted.
Actualising is having the opportunity to
discuss and debate issues around a particular