LGBT+ History Month: supporting students to be champions, allies and advocates

Anthony Day, Customer Communications Manager

February is LGBT+ History Month in the UK. It’s a time to raise awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) history and the ongoing struggle for LGBT+ rights. Much progress has been made over the years but there’s still a long way to go! In this blog post I’ll discuss LGBT+ rights activism in the UK, introduce a brief history of LGBT+ History Month, useful resources for the classroom and how teachers can support students to be LGBT+ champions and allies in school or college.

What is LGBT+ History Month?

First celebrated in the UK in 2005, LGBT+ History Month was founded in 2004 by Schools OUT co-chairs, Paul Patrick and Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders, with the main aim to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public.

The UK’s history of LGBT+ rights activism

The UK has a long history of LGBT+ rights activism, with early movements dating back to the 19th century. However, it wasn’t until 1967 that the Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalised homosexuality in England and Wales. Since then, there have been significant advances in LGBT rights, including the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2014 and the Gender Recognition Act in 2018 which allowed transgender individuals to legally change their gender. 

Despite these advances, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that LGBT+ people have full equality and protection under the law. Discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT+ individuals are still a major concern, and there are ongoing efforts to address these issues.

Students as LGBT+ champions, allies and advocates

Here are some ideas and resources to support your students to become LGBT+ champions, allies and advocates:

1. Educate them about the history and current state of LGBT+ rights in the UK. This can be done through classroom discussions such as these resources by Key Stage and subject from the classroom, inviting inspirational guest speakers into the classroom (the LGBT+ young people’s charity, Just Like Us, offers school talks by young people aged 18–25, making them relatable to your students) and educational materials and lesson packs from Stonewall.
2. Students can be encouraged to take an active role in advocating for LGBT+ rights as well as wider Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) initiatives, and creating a more inclusive and accepting environment in their school and community. Our podcast on EDIB in schools and colleges has some great tips on how to involve students in this area. 
3. Encourage students to participate in events and activities that celebrate LGBT+ history and culture, such as Pride events, film festivals, and educational workshops. In my Pride Month podcast episode, I chatted to two teachers about the activities they had going on in school and tips for others looking for inspiration to support Pride activities. By participating in these events, students can learn about the contributions of LGBT+ individuals and the ongoing struggles for equality and acceptance.
4. It’s also important for students to learn about the specific experiences and needs of different LGBT+ communities, such as bisexual and transgender individuals, who often face unique discrimination and marginalisation. By understanding the different experiences of LGBT+ individuals, students can become better champions, allies and advocates. 
5. Choosing to use inclusive language and pronouns is a simple way for students to show they care about their classmates and, in turn, the wider LGBT+ community.

Introducing LGBT+ topics into our history qualifications

You can also read about the work we’re doing to introduce topics in this area to our history qualifications and specifications in this blog post about raising awareness from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and in history subject advisor Mike Goddard’s blog post about the history curriculum.

Stay connected

We’d love to hear your feedback, thoughts and any activities you’ll be running for LGBT+ History Month in the comments below. If you have any questions about the support we can offer you, you can email us support@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or tweet us @ocrexams. You can also sign up to subject updates and receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Anthony joined OCR in April 2021. With over 15 years’ experience in marketing, communications and PR, he’s responsible for teacher and student communications, including a new Instagram account dedicated to our student audience, sharing subject-specific revision tips and advice on mental health, wellbeing and time management. He’s also a member of Cambridge University Press & Assessment’s Pride Network. Outside of work, Anthony enjoys spending time with his partner, family and four dogs!