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

SS: …um and so Shirley lost and in a sense having spoke to some people responsible for
the wording and and and um the work on 2003 that changed that case very clearly um
informed them of the process of how they wanted to get, obviously it was European lead
but they were acutely aware of Shirley Pierce’s case and it was acutely important that we
had a case and as David said there are no doubt many teachers who have attempted the
process and who have been brought off at the last moment or have you know have signed
a confidential clause, cos you know this is what happens. So it was very exciting to be
there and they weren’t very well prepared because I don’t think they ever expected it to
get there, they thought he would cave at some point and of course he never did. And the
whole thing had been set up for a week and it was sorted within before lunch, so he got
his money and he said he that he wouldn’t sign a confidentiality clause…
AM: {yes I watched it last week and I believe he said that he wouldn’t sign a
confidentiality clause and a full apology from the School involved.
SS: Yes, so it was an unmitigated success and of course it is shocking that this is the first
one we have and this is 2008.
AM: Yes I was very surprised when I heard that last week.
SS: Yes yes.
AM: That leads in well actually to my first main question um in terms of policy and
how…
SS: {you asked me about my organisation so I haven’t told you about history month
yet….
AM: {oh yes sorry, yes before we go onto that, we’ll we’ll hold that thought.Yes LGBT
history month, very important, yeah.
SS: …out of the work we’ve been doing as Schools Out, producing teachers packs either
as, again when I train I train either as Sue Sanders or as Chrysalis cos that’s sort of the
commercial arm, that’s how I pay my mortgage, cos all my work for Schools Out is
unpaid and it just makes our lives easier if we just bill people as us or Chrysalis but I’m
obviously always saying that I’m co-chair of Schools Out because it gives it weight and it
you know is informing the process that we are doing. But what was so obvious to us all
was the fact that getting visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans, because over the
years we have adopted bisexual and trans, we’ve moved with the times and of course we
are about to have the debate, do we have Q, Q and I and all that…
AM: {I know that debate very well…
SS: {yes, so that will be an interesting one, yes}
AM: …just from within student politics
SS: {yes, yes, yes}