LGBT+ History Month: What Is It and Why Is It Important? (#151)

What is LGBT+ History Month?

LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is celebrated around the world in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the UK, and the US.

In the United States, Canada, and Australia, it is celebrated in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day on 11 October and to commemorate the first and second marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987 for LGBT rights. In Germany, it is known as Queer History Month and is celebrated in May. In Hungary and the UK, it is observed during February; in the UK this coincides with the celebration of the abolition of Section 28 in 2003 (which I’ll come back to in a sec).

Section 28

As we’re in the UK, a lot of this episode is going to be UK-specific. There’s a lot out there about the US because of the Stonewall Riots, but I don’t see so much about the UK. So I’m going to be focusing this specifically on our celebration here in the UK. Here, LGBT+ History Month is celebrated in February each year, as an initiative started by an LGBTQ+ education charity Schools OUT, marking the abolition of Section 28.

Section 28 was a piece of legislation that was part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". The government at the time was working on a campaign to return ‘back to basics’ with an emphasis on ‘family values’. There was a belief at the time that the traditional ‘nuclear family’ model was under threat, and must be protected.

The resultant effect of this was teachers and other school staff became fearful of doing what they knew and felt to be the right thing. This fear was further exacerbated by some factions of society and the media through misrepresentation, which in turn meant that same-gender relationships were simply not discussed or visible in our schools.

Of course at that time (and throughout time as well), LGBT young people existed in the world and, therefore, in our classrooms. However, because of this law, they didn’t see themselves reflected in the education they were receiving and didn’t have the language to describe their own experiences.

Luckily, Section 28 was abolished in 2003, and twenty years on from this, we find ourselves slowly moving towards the right side of history. For many more schools than ever before, positive and inclusive education around lesbian, gay and bisexual lives and identities is included in teaching. People are learning to embrace LGBT young people as valued, included and visible, simply part of the rich diversity of any community, with more freedom than ever to explore this element of who they are.

Moving forward?

However, as much as we’re moving forwards in terms of lesbian, gay and bisexual representation, it’s still a long way away for trans and non-binary identities, as we’re seeing a lot right now in the media and what is (or isn’t) being done by the government. (A very recent example of this – I’m talking literally in the last couple of days as of recording – is the UK government blocking the Scottish gender recognition bill.) Again, this is being fuelled by some factions of society and the media about what trans inclusion means and can look like, and is often being misrepresented.

So right now, with all of this going on as we speak, LGBT+ History Month in February is the perfect time to engage with all too often hidden LGBT+ histories by providing positive education about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans lives.

Aims of LGBT+ History Month

In 2005, Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick, the co-chairs of Schools Out UK, organised the first LGBT+ History Month event as part of a programme to educate young people about the issues members of the community face and to make schools inclusive for everyone, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. 150 to 200 events took place across the UK, exceeding Sue and Paul’s expectation of 15 to 20 events. LGBT+ History month has taken place every February ever since then.

The overall aim of LGBT History month is to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public. This is done by:

• Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community;
• Raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT community;
• Working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT communities; and
• Promoting the welfare of LGBT people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.

This isn’t to be confused with Pride Month, which happens in June. Pride Month is when pride parades, outdoor events that celebrate LGBT+ acceptance and pride, usually take place. These sometimes also serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as marriage equality. But LGBT+ History Month is more about educating people about the history of LGBT+ people and how things have changed over time, and how far there still is to go.

Although sometimes it still feels like there’s a hell of a lot that still needs to be done, a big part of this month is focusing on the progress that has been made. These are just some of the positive steps taken to protect people's rights over the last few decades:

• In 1967, it was no longer illegal to be a gay man in England and Wales — the law did not say anything about women being in relationships with other women. This is largely to do with the fact that it had been overlooked, so had never actually been outlawed. Records of parliamentary debates in 1921 show that MPs and peers were afraid it would publicise lesbianism and encourage respectable women to try it, so they kept it quiet. (I don’t know why they didn’t think the same of men!)
• 1972 saw the first Pride rally in London, where around 2000 people took part.
• 1992 was a year where the World Health Organisation declassified 'same-sex attraction' as a mental disorder.
• In 2003, ‘Section 28’ was repealed, meaning that it was no longer illegal to talk about LGBTQ+ issues positively in schools. In the same year, the Criminal Justice Act criminalised homophobic hate crime. 
• 2010 was a year in which the LGBTQ+ community was given more rights at work; the Equality Act protected people against discrimination, regardless of their gender identity.
• In 2013, same-sex couples were allowed to get married in England and Wales. The first weddings took place in 2014, the same day that the law came into place.
• In 2021, the UK Census included questions about gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time, allowing data to be collected about the number of people within the LGBTQ+ community.

I still find it mad that these are all so recent, but it shows that progress is still being made, even if at the moment it feels like everything is taking a few big steps back, in particular for trans people. But this is why education and awareness months like this are so important, so people can keep fighting.

This year’s theme: #BehindTheLens

Every year, LGBT History Month has a particular theme, and all of the educational resources for that year and centred around the chosen theme. Since 2011, the themes have been linked to a subject in the National Curriculum, and resources include free-to-download lesson plans for teachers who want to include it in their teaching.

Previous themes have included Citizenship, PSHE and Law in 2017, which included LGBT rights across Europe; Mapping Our World in 2018, which was all about gender diversity through time and cultures; Peace, Reconciliation and Activism in 2019, as this year marked 50 years since the Stonewall Riots; and so many more linked to subjects like English, media and the arts, and STEM. (I’ll put a link in the notes to where you can still access loads of great resources for every year’s theme since 2017, created by The Proud Trust.) 

This year, the theme for LGBT+ History Month is Behind the Lens, celebrating LGBT+ peoples’ contribution to cinema and film from behind the camera. This includes directors, cinematographers, screen writers, producers, animators, costume designers, special effects, make-up artists, lighting directors, musicians, choreographers and beyond.

This theme gives us a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate the lives and accomplishments of LGBTQ+ people who work outside of the limelight in the fields of photography, film making, TV and fashion. Again, there are tons of resources in the notes for this episode if you want to learn more about this theme!

Faces of the Year

Another fairly new feature of LGBT+ History Month is Faces of the Year. After Schools OUT paid tribute to Alan Turing in November 2012 (the centenary of his birth), it was suggested that the month could regularly feature LGBT figures whose lives have been forgotten or 'straight-washed' by history, to illustrate the group's tagline of "claiming our past", and to give LGBT+ students some of the role-models and heroes their straight classmates had an abundance of.

The idea was adopted from 2014, with every February since highlighting the life of iconic or inspirational LGBTQ+ people. This started as one person, expanded to 4 people for each of the letters in LGBT, and then in 2021, the committee was able to add a fifth person as part of the intention to represent the "+" in LGBT+. You can find a full list of these on the Wikipedia page for LGBT History Month. (I don’t think the ones for 2023 have been announced yet!)

What can you do?

If you want to learn more about LGBT history yourself, there are so many resources and countless books that you can read. Here are some of the things you can do:

• Attend an in-person or virtual LGBT+ History Month event - link in the notes for a calendar of events in 2023
• Connect with local LGBTQ+ Groups where you are
• Watch a queer film or TV series - you could host a watch party with friends.
• There are also some great documentaries if you want something educational. A couple of recommendations I came across are The Life and Death of Marsha P Johnson on Netflix, and The Times of Harvey Milk.
• Read books – whether it’s fiction books about LGBTQ characters, or non-fiction books about LGBTQ history.
• Donate what you can – to help those in need, consider supporting some incredible LGBTQ+ charities. From mental health support for LGBTQ+ people, to charities like Just Like Us helping deliver resources to schools, to international activists fighting for equality everywhere, anything you can give will make a difference.

If you want to go a step further and you have the ability to celebrate LGBT History Month in your workplace or school, the team at the LGBT Speakers Agency, a site where you can book LGBT people to come and speak at training and events, have shared some of their favourite ways you could celebrate LGBT History Month in the workplace, or in educational settings.

• Host an LGBT History Month quiz to teach employees or students about important events in LGBT history.
• Donate to charities like Stonewall or other LGBTQ charities that are relevant to you (e.g. if you’re a school, choose an education or young people’s charity) by hosting bake sales or sponsored fundraisers.
• Improve your discrimination and equality policies so that true equality starts higher up, and tackling issues like discrimination and bullying becomes more of an important priority outlined by official policy.
• Make a diversity pledge – is your company diverse enough? Make LGBT History Month the turning point for your business and pledge to be more diverse (and actually follow through on it!).
• Hire an LGBT speaker – If you wish to host an inclusion workshop or conference, book an LGBT speaker for LGBT History Month who can share their real experiences. (A personal recommendation for this is Diversity Role Models.)

Whatever you do this month, whether it’s taking time to learn more about LGBT history or by hosting official events in your workplace or school, I hope this has shone a light on this annual event and given you some ideas for what you can do!