Schools OUT
The LGBT+ education charity #educatingOUTprejudice and #Usuallising LGBT+ lives since November 1974
We believe that every LGBT+ person should feel safe, seen and thrive in education and beyond. Through education and advocacy we empower people in all learning settings to create environments where all LGBT+ people feel safe, seen, and supported. We promote a whole school/organisation approach, increasing the visibility of LGBT+ History and people in all our diversity.
How do we do this?
- UK LGBT+ History Month
- OUTing the Past
- The Classroom
- OUTreach
UK LGBT+ History Month
We founded UK LGBT+ History Month to be a dedicated space to celebrate our rich and diverse history, herstory, theirstory. Each year we set the theme, choose five LGBT+ historical figures to highlight and provide free resources to education settings, organisations, and businesses. Across our social media channels, we highlight the five LGBT+ historical figures and UK LGBT+ people past and present in line with the theme. Every day on our Instagram we share LGBT+ History from around the world. We helped found the International Committee on LGBTQ+ History Months which encourages other countries to set up LGBT+ History Month’s.
Outing the Past
We founded the OUTing The Past the International Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans History, which takes place every two years from 1st February to 16th March. We connect researchers, archivists, historians, and history buffs with museums, archives, and libraries across the UK and beyond to present LGBT+ History events virtually and in person.
The Classroom
We founded ‘The Classroom’ website to draw together our free education resources for key stages 1- 5 (5 years old to 19 years old); to enable educators to embed LGBT+ inclusive lessons and history throughout the curriculum. We introduce the ‘whole school’ approach and the concepts of ‘Usualising’ and ‘Visibilising’. During the year we run online sessions for education settings for UK LGBT+ History Month and Pride Month. Throughout the year we offer free webinar sessions for educators on a range of subjects linked to inclusive education and LGBT+ History.
OUTreach
We undertake various activities throughout the year, from speaking at education conferences to running sessions for education unions to articles, academic papers, book forewards, and research. For the public, we provide free webinars about LGBT+ history, and for businesses and organisations we run workshops about the importance of LGBT+ inclusive education. We take part in the biannual Pride in Education, Student Pride, Para Pride, Pride in London, UK Black Pride, and Bi Pride UK, showcasing inclusive education and LGBT+ History. We support the work of Dr Stephen Hornby playwright in residence and Adam Lowe LGBT+ History Month poet Laureate; who both highlight LGBT+ History in their work. Finally, we work with other education organisations and history months to campaign for inclusive education.