Wednesday 17 May is the International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination. We are looking forward to celebrating this day at lunchtime in the courtyard with a range of student-led activities that help promote acceptance, inclusion and visibility.
At Brighton, we focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion all year round. We display the progress pride flag at the front of our school, run weekly Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) meetings, provide staff professional development to help understand diverse perspectives and have strategies to challenge discrimination. We support staff to find out students’ pronouns through “getting to know you” activities and our start of semester Student Profiles. Many staff members include pronouns in email signatures to normalise asking people for pronouns and wear a pronoun or rainbow pin/badge to show their allyship.
Being an ally means:
- supporting equal rights for everyone – regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender or religion
- doing what you can to call out discrimination and to fight for equality
- trying to make the world a better place for anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+
Here are some articles we recommend to help learn more about sexual and gender diversity, and being an active ally:
ReachOut – what is an LGBTQIA+ ally
SHINESA – sexual and gender diversity
ReachOut – the different between gender, sex and sexuality
Minus 18 – what are pronouns and why are they important
Justice Connect – your legal rights at school
