Getting on the bus on the way to work. Meeting a friend for a coffee on a morning. Catching the latest movie at the cinema.
A daily routine which circles our lives.
For the LGBTQ+ community, these everyday activities can leave people feeling anxious, insecure and self-conscious of the bias around them. It can even leave many forced to rethink their routines.
Hate crime however is still on the rise. Lauren Walker, a former student, said, “During high school I was discriminated against when a group of girls called me out for being gay, they also said it was wrong for me to share the same changing rooms and reported me to the school.”
These kinds of acts are not unusual in a high school situation. Two of out three LGBTQ+ members said they had received ‘hateful comments’ during their time in school. Since the Equality Act was put into place in 2010, it has improved hate crime against sexual orientation, but it has still not rectified the discrimination which goes on in a school environment.
Scotland is the first country to approve LGBTQ+ school lessons. Wales and Ireland have been recently looking into integrating LGBTQ+ issues into the curriculum. Meaning, if the younger generation are educated on the topic, they are more likely to understand what the LGBTQ+ is about and the support it receives. Additionally, it won’t only improve the learning experience of our LGBTQ+ young people, it will also support all the learners to celebrate their differences and promote understanding.
Schools aren’t the only places in which discrimination can happen. Workplaces can also be another setting in which crime against sexual orientation occurs. Retail worker Kelsey Roe, 19, said she often avoids some colleagues due to comments which have been mentioned in passing. As well as this, she is occasionally told to hide her bisexual tattoo by both customers and staff members. Kelsey said, “My family think it’s a phase, they are constantly putting me down because I am in a monogamous relationship, my Dad said liking both sexes doesn’t exist, you can only like one or the other.”
It is clear how hate crime can disrupt daily behaviour which others take for granted and it tends to leave people feeling unsafe and unwelcome.
The transgender community are unfortunately hit especially hard. Shannon Clay, 23, and Morgan Weryk-Stamp, 20, who both identify as transgender say, “The hardest part about being transgender is that no one is really educated on it. Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s difficult having to explain to people, especially family, that you feel like you were born in the wrong body.”
Shannon attends a local support group which helps them express how they are feeling. They say, “Attending a support group has helped boost my confidence. It’s also helped me to ignore any negativity and to focus on myself and my future.”
But despite all this, the LGBTQ+ community is supported highly worldwide and it’s still on the rise. For example, pride events which usually take place between June-August, are hugely popular with the society and it brings different groups of people together. Gay pride is a positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The LGBT pride month which is June, was originally chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots which happened in 1969. Due to this, most pride events are held during this time to recognise the impact LGBTQ+ people have had in the world.
Morgan Weryk-Stamp, a student at York St John’s University said, “I personally absolutely love pride. It’s a celebration of everything and everyone related to the LGBTQ+. As well as this, it’s a safe place for everyone to get together and celebrate our lives and individuality.” Morgan attended York pride earlier this year which resulted in the biggest turnout York have ever had for pride. “It was a brilliant day, attitude free and nothing but friendly, supportive and inclusive.”
Former president of the LGBTQ+ committee at York St John’s University, Shannon Clay, made a lot of positive changes during their time as an officer. For instance, gender-neutral toilets were introduced to the university which benefited many students. Misusing pronouns is something which happens to LGBTQ+ members (in particular transgender and non-binary individuals) on a daily basis, so Shannon introduced pronoun badges to help rectify this and make it less likely for people to use the wrong pronouns.
Pronouns are becoming a lot more evident in today’s society. For example, someone who is non-binary would identify as they/them because they don’t feel they fit into either of the male or female category. As well as this, a transgender person could identity as either he/she/them depending on what they are transitioning to or their preferred pronoun.
Because Shannon was president, they were the main point of call between the society and the Students Union. Shannon helped boost membership at the fresher’s fair, created inclusive social and charitable events and as part of their Liberation Officer role, they created events around ‘Asexual Awareness Week’ which resulted in having stalls around the university. Shannon became chair because they’ve always been inspired to be the person they needed when growing up. Although, friends and family around their hometown have been tolerant to Shannon being transgender, they said, “Coming to York St John’s University has made my family feel more open minded about the idea of me being transgender and its helped me to want to help people similar to myself.”
Its 2018 and we are slowly battling against discrimination. With the support growing, over the years we hope it’s not such a taboo subject and it can be spoken about more freely.
With our education system adjusting, we hope everyone can reach their full potential so the support for the LGBTQ+ can feel more inclusive and we can tackle issues like sexual discrimination.
Meeting a friend for a coffee should be a simple thing for everyone to enjoy.