Hi there i'm Pat, I am leading an lgbt+ rights campaign in my school in order to reduce homophobia ect and make lgbt+ students more comfortable in there enviroment. I am looking for ideas and possible schemes that my school could implement. Any suggestions welcome Thanks, Pat
I did something similar once, but only for my year group. What I did was create a few lesson plans. One about genders sexualities and homophobia (we'd only ever been taught gay, straight, bi), another about transphobia, one linking transphobia and homophobia to self harm and suicide, and another linking them to homelessness. Basically, I just tried to raise awareness of the way homophobia hurts people, as well as educating them about sexuality and gender. If you can get permission to teach these lessons either in PSHE or an assembly, that might work. You could also get a group together, if your school doesn't already have one. Just a place for LGBT+ people to meet, for questioning people to learn more about sexualities and receive help to find who they are, and for general advice regarding things like coming out etc. Bake sales always go well Also, pride flag badges, bracelets, that kind of stuff also go down well. Then you could use the proceeds to fund other projects, or donate it to an LGBT+ charity. If you look online, there's a load of anti-homophobia videos you could show classes. For example, there is one in which everyone in the world is gay and straight people are treated like gay people. There's a lot of bullying etc, and it hits really hard. (Might be a little triggering for some. (self-harm/suicide) ) They used to show it to classes at my school. An LGBT+ coffee club would be cool. Just a load of people meeting up and just talking. No real focus on advice/etc like there would be with a support group, but just a fun, relaxed place for people to meet other LGBT+ people If you could get permission, you could even hold a mini pride march. You could get a kind of talent show together, put up some stands (maybe like the ones I mentioned earlier?), and have everyone march around campus. That's a huge deal, so I don't know if it'd work out, but it'd be cool if it did. I have no idea if any of these ideas are any good, by the way haha I hope there's something you can use amongst all this. Good luck! Wishing you the best x
^ Those are all excellent! My high school, when we started a GSA, had teachers, who were willing, put up Safe Space stickers in their office windows. They were just small rainbow striped triangles but they were a sign that if you were questioning, being bullied, had home troubles, or anything else regarding your gender or sexuality, that teacher was someone you could talk to without fear of being outed, shamed, or bullied farther. (The really great part was that it was kind of a quiet movement but by 4 months 90% of teachers and general staff had that sticker somewhere!) We also had a silent protest for one day to bring attention to the marginalization of LGBTQIA+ people. You can also take advantage of calendar days or events, like October being LGBT History Month, October 11th being National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Awareness, etc. And that could be as big or small as you wanted. A mention at the start of class, like, "Hey, btw, did you know today is National Coming Out Day?", or an announcement on the PA in the morning, or hell a whole class themed on it. You didn't really give many details in your post actually... Are you a student or a teacher? What level of school are you in?
