Blog: Out With the Old, In With the Out

A blog about the importance of LGBTQ+ education and safe sober spaces for our community

Logo used as part of Section 28 protests

Picture it: United Kingdom, 1988. For many, this period of time recalls us getting out of Bill Ocean’s dreams and into his car, questionable shoulder pads and a perm that no amount of UK drizzle could dampen. For the LGBTQ+ community, however, this year brought a devastating blow to our Pride and our acceptance – amid the tragic HIV/AIDS epidemic that took so many lives, the Thatcher government had introduced the ‘Section 28’, a clause as part of the Local Government Act, which in essence was a law against the “promotion of homosexuality” in schools. Children who had questions about queer topics such as same gender relationships or experiencing homophobic bullying did not experience any teachers encouragement to come and talk to them about what they were thinking and feeling because, by law, teachers were prohibited in doing so.

For millennials, this seems like a cruel restraint on expressing who we are within school walls, having to exclude teachers from our group of adults we can seek support from should we be bullied or confused about LGBTQ+ issues. However, in Scotland, ‘Section 28’ wasn’t redacted until 2000 (and 2003 in the rest of the UK). Meaning that many of us youngins, to whom the very notion of this level of government sanctioned inequality seems so far in our rearview mirror, were most likely in nursery or early primary school when this was still in place. And even once this clause was repealed – does that suddenly mean that every teacher, possibly some teaching since 1988 or before, is going to now burst into the classroom with a Pride flag, singing “Express Yourself” with a Will & Grace boxset under their arm encouraging any young queer kids to be their true authentic self at all times with any homophobic or transphobic bullying being stamped out like a roach at a barbecue?

Not necessarily – and from my experience, not at all. Any whisper of “gay” from a pupil would result in a stern tone and waggle of a finger, but no explanation of what gay was and why it shouldn’t be ridiculed. And “trans”, “bisexual” or any other part of the community wasn’t even in anyone’s vocabulary. Just because an act prohibiting the conversation around LGBTQ+ issues in schools is revoked, that does not mean the conversation is then going to start. With protests outside Birmingham schools protesting the introduction of queer history, and schools in Scotland only now planning to add LGBTQ+ education to the curriculum, it’s no wonder that so many adults of all ages in our community have some extremely negative experiences from those school days. Too scared to be who we truly are, often we put up a front when in school to distract anyone from our rainbow rays shining – for some children it’s a faint colourful aura with a pastel hue, yet to be discovered and understood; for other children, it’s multicoloured fireworks that can’t be hidden easily if at all. But as children and young people, most people in our community know our whole lives there is something different or special or unusual, but without any guidance and education, we’re often destined to live well into double digits before we can even make sense of it within, let alone be able to express it.

Which is why LGBTQ+ spaces of support, safety and education are so important, especially now. Whilst in most city centres now, there is a cavalcade of different LGBTQ+ bars and clubs, these environments are not always suitable for everyone in our community. And though they are amazing places for entertainment, celebrating our culture and having a great night out, if what you need is to talk, find support, or meet new people in a controlled manner, they might not be the most conducive.

And so, our new digital project “The In/Out Crowd” was born. A digital platform for LGBTQ+ people come together every 2 weeks in a magazine-style TV show where we have discussions, we host quizzes, we have a laugh and perhaps even a cry (well I certainly do!). We have political discussions about a serious issue with special guests who have relevant experiences to share; on our first session had Remigiusz and Katarzyna who are both LGBTQ+ young people from Poland discussing

the awful political situation surrounding Poland’s attitudes and violence towards LGBTQ+ (encouraged by the homophobic and transphobic government, branding the community as a “rainbow plague”); on our second session, we had two bisexual people Laura and Emma as our special guests talking about the erasure and specific discrimination bisexual folks face. We also talk about LGBTQ+ culture and art (both current and from past decades with people such as Keith Haring last week being our main focus), we look at queer media representation reviewing shows such as Drag Race and LGBTQ+ documentaries, and of course plenty of fun pieces including quizzes and parody clips.

But why is this important? Why is having an online digital session where we talk and laugh and have deep conversation needed for LGBQT+ people today? Well, even though Section 28 is no longer in place and hasn’t been for 20 years now in Scotland, the ripple effects from this are still evident today. In people’s mental health, confidence and overall self-worth after being told by the government that being a certain way was to be ignored, not to be discussed and was inherently wrong. If we can encourage more safe and especially sober spaces for our community, we can hopefully work through these issues together, where we can discuss topics that we are passionate about, educate each other and hopefully act as not only a support system where new folks can connect over Zoom, but also an outlet of visibility where LGBQT+ artists are coming together to be their true, authentic, creative selves. With more environments such as ‘The In/Out Crowd’, we can amplify the voices of the LGBTQ+ community, give space for folks to express a subject close to their hearts and minds, and over time instil the confidence in each other to know that we are creative, one of a kind and have stories and opinions worth listening to. Regardless of what transpired in our education, early life or personal situations, ‘The In/Out Crowd’ reminds us that we can use these experiences as a tool to encourage us to have Pride in our “outness” despite a global pandemic and what we may have been through. ‘The In/Out Crowd’ reminds us to be out with the old and, as much as we can, be in with the out – meaning be proud of our previous experiences and vocal about what has always mattered to us and additionally, whilst we may be stuck in more than we’d ideally like, we are still and always will be out.