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

AM: …there’s this whole debate going on about whether to include Q
SS: yes so I think we’ll probably have that debate probably at our next meeting [//] um
[//] the total invisibility of lesbian and gay people, everybody’s assumed,
heteronormativity is alive and well in our schools and[//] that’s both with the people,
with the parents, with the kids and with everybody in the curriculum [//] Having see the
success of black history month and seeing it move from don’t say that to actually…
AM: (laughs)
SS: …grappling with the thinking about exploring educating and enabling people to
understand black experiences and existence, and I mean no-where near as much as it
should be but one its unlikely that you will see reading books you know pure Janet and
John stuff [//] it’s still not enough…
AM: {no}
SS: …it’s still not enough. One cannot say that our curriculums are considerate around
race, or ethnicity which I prefer, because they are not. But seeing how black history
month made a difference, I’d been saying to Paul for some time, we really need an LGBT
history month and in 2004 because of the 2003 legislation, because at that point we could
see on the horizon the equality and human rights commission…
AM: {yeah}
SS: …coming up…goods and services being discussed and being talked about, I felt that
there was a potential for maybe setting it up. So Paul and I sat down and discussed it and
we decided on February and we decided on February because it was a quietish month and
because it had a half term in it and we were determined to have a month with a half term
in it because we knew that libraries and museums would grab it. We knew that schools
would be very freighted of it and we knew that…
AM: {good thinking
SS: …yes and we knew that if teachers, parents, kids, went into their museums and
library es and saw something about LGBT history month, that might give them
confidence and resources and the courage really to take it into schools. Which I think to
some extent has been true, it certainly um, I was talking in Brixton this year, did a
numerable number of different events, probably 5 or 6 different events plus a big um
display in the library and um exactly teachers came up to the library and said wow this is
amazing maybe I can do something um we we probably have I mean Scotland now has
it’s own set up and and and um somebody who is now paid full time I think to run the
Scottish LGBT History month (sigh) [//] still [//] we have no funds basically, so its such
an irony um South West, Michael in Intercom Trust has got a young women there who
has been funded there for I think for about 18 months and there’re looking to refund her
for LGBT South West. And Brighton have just done a whole lot and there’s a big meeting
today which I cant be at which sort of is a bit on the back of that looking at stuff around
schools, but um so its really taken off and I think next year is our fifth year, last year we