LGBT+ History Month Introduction
February marks LGBT+ History Month! This month, people across the UK celebrate and educate themselves and others about LGBT+ issues and history which has been ignored or glossed over in the past. While a lot of the focus is on history, the aim of the month is to also look to the future and see how we can make our society, and the world, more open and equal to all and continue to make strides in that direction.
In the UK, while LGBT+ people have more rights than in history previously, there is still a long way to go until we have full equality, especially for trans people and LGBT+ people of colour. As part of a wider world, the UK makes up one of only 29 countries and municipalities across the globe with marriage equality, whereas it is still illegal to be trans or have non-heterosexual relationships in 72 countries, some of which have the death penalty or long term imprisonment for people found ‘guilty’ of being someone or loving someone who isn’t straight or cisgender.
Throughout history, people who are LGBT+ have been criminalised, attacked, shamed, and killed for their gender or their sexuality, and this is unfortunately still the case in so many countries. “No one is equal until everyone is equal” is a powerful quote, and its truth rings clear to this day.
To mark this LGBT+ History Month, we’ve been working on a bumper newsletter full of information, along with articles on mental health and wellbeing and the gender spectrum, interviews and articles from Creative Support staff and service users, and more.
LGBT+ History Month is a diverse and inclusive campaign open to anybody who would like to get involved, and while we’ve been working on lots of bits behind the scenes, we wanted to remind you that you can always get involved by reaching out to us at marketing.department@creativesupport.co.uk. If you have a story you would like to share, or an LGBT+ hero, or a book recommendation, etc. then we would love to hear from you!
At the end of the month we will also be filming an ‘Ask Me Anything’ video with staff members who are going to answer your questions. If you have ever wanted to ask a question to someone from the LGBT+ community then please send it to the same email as above and we’ll try to answer as many as we can! There are no silly questions, but remember to be kind.
To make this month as diverse as possible, we want to hear from anybody and everybody because that’s how we can show how beautiful and interesting diversity truly is. Everyone has their own journeys and experiences, and that’s what makes us all so brilliantly unique.
We also wanted to highlight Creative Support’s own LGBT+ Network which meets regularly. If you want to find out more about joining the network, or have any questions about what the network does, then please send an email to LGBT.Network@creativesupport.co.uk. Please be assured that any and all emails that go to the LGBT+ Network inbox are treated in absolute confidence.
We can’t wait to share all of the work with you over the next four weeks, so keep your eyes peeled on the website, our Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for more updates!