Non-Normative Gender and Sexual Identities in Schools: - Schools Out

Interview with Sue Sanders ~ Co-Chair
Schools Out 11/06/08 & 25/06/08
Key:
AM: Interviewer (Amy MacMillan)
SS: Sue Sanders
[//] indicates a noticeable pause in speech
... indicates break in/continuous of speech due to interruption by another speaker
{ } words spoken over previous speaker
{ speech interrupted and cut off another speaker
( ) description of sounds/actions within/between speech
Italics indicates the speaker is imitating another person with their speech
! word/sentence exclaimed with emphasis or irony
, normal pause in sentence
. normal end of sentence
Transcript 11/06/08:
AM: Could you please start by telling me the remit of the organisation that you work
for…
SS: {well there’s two}
AM: …and your role within it
SS: Schools out is over thirty years old and it’s changed its focus I guess over the years,
initially it was um the gay teachers group and its intention then was back in the 70’s to
really to have a, a support group for lesbian and gay, probably not even thinking bisexual
in the very early days, certainly not ‘t’ um to support teachers in those days there were we
a total (inaudible), there was no-body supported us, no-body cared about us, were public
enemy number one probably, you know we were a problem, unions weren’t thinking
about our needs, local authorities weren’t and if you came out you’d probably get sacked.
So we needed some sort of support system [//] Very soon after the gay teachers support
system was set up, John Warbaton got sacked, or suspended and then eventually sacked
by the inner London education authority where he was seen by a group of his students on
a very early Gay Pride March and was asked ‘are you gay’ and he said yes, he was
suspended and then eventually he was, he was sacked [//] so [//]…
AM: {because he was gay?
SS: …because he said he was gay in the classroom. And He was asked to sign a piece of
paper to say that he would never admit that he was gay again [//] listen to the language
[//] admit, you admit a crime you don’t admit your sexual orientation…