Pride Month and LGBT+ History Month
Pride Month is celebrted in June, and LGBT+ History Month in February celebrates LGBT+ people who have created social change from across the centuries. Visit the LGBT history month site at https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/
Search our catalogue :
- Primary school LGBT resources including picture books and fiction
- Secondary school LGBT resources including fiction
Why is Pride Month and LGBT+ History Month important for schools?
- Between 1988 and 2003 Section 28 of the Local Government Act meant that schools in England and Wales were not allowed “intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”.
- In England, homosexuality was illegal until 1967.
- There are still 66 countries around the world today in which it is illeagal to be openly gay. In some cases punishable by the death penalty.
- In England and Wales today, promenant, mainstream right-wing political parties are gaining ground and actively censoring LGBT+ stories in libraries
These are people’s stories and voices being silenced.
Schools and libraries have a crucial role in educating for equality. They have a responsibility to every pupil to ensure a safe and secure learning environment in which they can thrive. They have a responsibility to all pupils to prepare them for adult life in the real world and to ensure that young people do not grow up in fear because they were not made welcome. They were not to be spoken of. That their stories couldn’t be told.
Pride is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate that we can ALL be proud and accepted for who we are.
LGBT books and resources in schools
LGBT+ History Month is an opportunity for all of us to learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Britain and Northern Ireland.
Pride Month as an opportunity for everyone to celebrate that we can ALL be proud of who we are. It’s no longer illegal to be our own person.
ALL books are stories. Since the earliest days of human history we’ve used stories to learn about the world and to map our progress. Stories featuring LGBT+ characters help young people to challenge stereotypes. They teach young people who are discovering their own identities – or the identities of their friends and family members – that LGBT+ people are part of society, that their rights are the same as anyone elses.
Human rights aren’t a pick-and-choose. If censorship is allowed for one group – if a set of stories are erased – then that is the thin end of the wedge that risks allowing the silencing of any voice.
Other web resources can be found at:
- Schools Out: http://www.schools-out.org.uk/
- Proud Trust: https://www.theproudtrust.org/
- Just Like Us: https://www.justlikeus.org/
- Stonewall: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/schools-colleges
LGBT History Month PowerPoint presentation for display (non- editable), with thanks to Jane Hill, Kings Langley School, Herts, for ideas for updates: LGBTHistoryMonth
