This is the last month of our celebration of the Pride Flag, and we are celebrating the pink stripe, love.  You may not know that the original pride flag had 8 stripes, but the pink stripe was removed to make the flag simpler.  Now, we have seen the return of a pink stripe with the inclusion of the trans flag colours into the modern flag.  Love has always be central to activism within the LGBTQ+ community.

LGBTQ+ people have faced centuries of prejudice – and still face it today, even from friends, family and work colleagues.  Yet, the fight for equality has pushed LGBTQ+ communities to truly celebrate their sexuality and gender, take pride in it and explore what it really means – something heterosexual or cisgender couples may take for granted.

One exception here is that this celebration of sexuality doesn’t always apply to the public arena.  An Open University study found that LGBTQ+ partners were less likely to show affection in public, often caused by fears around social stigma and personal safety.  Living in a society where your wellbeing is at risk takes bravery and courage to be who you are.  It also requires you to own your vulnerabilities and be sensitive to those of your partner.

This is why many people are upset at the fact that conversion therapy is still legal in the UK.

Conversion therapy (or ‘cure’ therapy or reparative therapy) refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress a person’s gender identity.  It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’.  These therapies are both unethical and harmful.

In the UK, all major counselling and psychotherapy bodies, as well as the NHS, have concluded that conversion therapy is dangerous and have condemned it.

Stonewall has found that 7% of LGBTQ+ people have been offered or undergone conversion therapy.  Trans people are nearly twice as likely to be targeted and asexual people are also at higher risk.  Our government is moving towards a ban on conversion therapy, but you can help move this along faster by contacting you MP and MSP.  You can also visit Stonewall Scotland at the address below for more information on how to help:

https://www.stonewallscotland.org.uk/

This month the Pride Alliance invites you to celebrate the purple stripe of the Pride Flag.  This colour represents spirit.  Faith is an important part of many LGBT+ people’s lives.  However, the misconception that LGBT+ people cannot belong within faith communities has been deeply damaging.

Research by the LGBT+ charity Stonewall found a third of lesbian, gay and bi people of faith (32%) aren’t open with anyone in their faith community about their sexual orientation.  One in four trans people of faith (25%) aren’t open about who they are in their faith community.

Faith has this almost unparalleled ability to bring people from all walks of life together in the name of love. LGBT+ people of faith should feel respected and included in their faith communities, just as they need respect and acceptance in wider society.

There are lots of faith groups for LGBT+ people.  We have included their details below if you feel you need to reach out to them:

• Diverse Church – Christian https://diversechurch.website/
• Hidayah – Islam https://hidayahlgbt.com/
• House of Rainbow – BAME https://www.houseofrainbow.org/
• Imaan – Islam https://imaanlondon.wordpress.com/
• KeshetUK – Jewish https://www.keshetuk.org/
• Open Table Network – Christian https://opentable.lgbt/
• Quest – Catholics https://questlgbti.uk/
• Rainbow Pagans UK – Pagan https://rainbowpagansuk.wordpress.com/

The Pride Alliance will be celebrating the meaning of each colour, starting with red = life in January. Check out the board in the foyer.

It is not uncommon to see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed as a symbol for the LGBT+ rights movement, but how did that flag become a symbol of LGBT+ pride?

It goes back to 1978, when the artist Gilbert Baker, an openly gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. Baker later revealed that he was urged by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., to create a symbol of pride for the gay community.

Each stripe of the flag has a meaning, including life, nature and harmony.

Gilbert Baker and many other LGBT+ icons will be celebrated each month from January on the Pride Alliance notice board. Each month we will use one of the colours as a theme, starting first with the celebration of life. We will link each of these to the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, giving us the opportunity to reflect on how we want our school, community and nation to grow in the future.