LGBT+ History Month
Blog Author: EDI Champion Emma Shove
LGBT+ History Month is celebrated in the UK during February and was started by Schools OUT to mark the abolition of Section 28.
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 banned local authorities and schools from ‘promoting homosexuality’. This deprived generations of LGBTQIA+ pupils the chance of seeing people like them in the books, plays, leaflets, or films their schools could stock or show. Teachers weren’t allowed to teach about same-sex relationships; anyone who broke the law could face disciplinary action.
It was the campaign against Section 28 which led to the creation of LGBTQIA+ charity Stonewall. Section 28 was repealed in the UK in 2003.
LGBT+ History Month began in 2004 and this year’s theme is Medicine – #UnderTheScope. This is a chance to celebrate LGBTQIA+ people’s contribution to the field of Medicine and Healthcare both historically and today.
Below are two profiles of LGBTQIA+ individuals who have contributed to medicine and healthcare.
Anna Freud
Anna Freud is one of the founders of child psychology and daughter of Sigmund Freud. When her father released a paper on her, diagnosing her with “hysteria” due to her lesbian relationships, she fought back and released her own study, fighting back against the negative beliefs around homosexuality that were circulating at the time.
Alan Hart
Alan Hart was an American physician, radiologist and tuberculosis researcher. Hart pioneered the use of x-rays in tuberculosis detection and for the last 16 years of his life he headed mass x-ray programmes that screened for tuberculosis in Connecticut. Hart was transgender and his case was the first documented transgender male transition in the United States.
LGBT+ History Month is an opportunity to learn more and celebrate the history of the whole LGBTQIA+ community. In relation to mental health, below is a list of organisations who are leading the way in supporting the LGBTQIA+ community and their mental health. I would like to invite you to spend some time learning more about their work during the month of February.
Posted on: 7th February 2024
