One of the UK’s largest LGBT+ youth charities is launching a free resource ahead of LGBT+ History Month, to engage people before, during and beyond, which takes place in February each year.

The free resource, this year focuses on a whole host of topics from learning about famous lesbian activists such as Kay Tobin, investigating The Hays Code and exploring popular LGBT+ inclusive TV show Heartstopper, to getting artistic around “gender norms” in fashion.

The resource which is downloadable now from The Proud Trust website offers schools, parents, carers, community groups, individuals and young people the opportunity to explore, learn and engage in tasks from worksheets to craft-based activities.

The Proud Trust, which is one of the UK’s largest LGBT+ youth charities, which last year re-opened The Proud Place, Manchester’s LGBT+ community centre, is committed to improving the lives of LGBT+ young people through positive education.

Lisa Harvey-Nebil CEO of the Proud Trust said: “LGBT+ young people exist in every space where young people are, including classrooms. At The Proud Trust, we often talk about the quote “if you can see it, you can be it…” The opportunity that positive education during LGBT+ History Month provides is therefore twofold: to give young people the knowledge to understand and embrace the rich diversity of the world they live in, and for some, the words to describe their own experiences. The month is a great time to make visible the LGBT+ people who have been successful in a myriad of different professions for our young people.

“Every year The Proud Trust creates free resources for LGBT+ History Month

“This year, even more than usual, we’re hoping this will be a valuable resource for schools and teachers who are stretched and may not have had time to plan how they will deliver LGBT+ history during February.

“We think this pack could be a very useful tool for parents, as well as educators who are searching for free, engaging, and inclusive content designed for the classroom. And the best thing is that this is just one of the free resources available.”

The 2023 LGBT+ History Month resource pack is part of a raft of educational resources provided by The Proud Trust in association with partner groups, that help to achieve its wider aims of celebrating LGBT+ people in all their diversity, making LGBT+ inclusive lessons a part of the national curriculum and ultimately educating out prejudice.

Lisa ended: “Often, we find that schools want to provide LGBT+ inclusive lessons within the curriculum yet staff don’t really know how to approach it within subjects outside of those that focus on personal and social development – that’s why we created The Rainbow Flag Award Classroom as a further free resource to weave LGBT+ awareness into the every day and further help to reduce prejudice through education.

“We hope this year, more so than ever, we see the pack downloaded time and time again. All of the team here at The Proud Trust are wanting to build awareness and support education. We want to imagine a world where education about LGBT+ lives and identities is just part and parcel of teaching all students about the world they actually live in.”

All resources can be found at www.theproudtrust.org

More about the LGBT+ History Month Pack

This year’s theme “Behind the Lens” gives a wonderful opportunity to recognise and celebrate the lives and professional accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, many of whom work outside of the limelight in the fields of photography, film making, TV, music, and fashion.

The resource contains four sessions, that feature:

· Kay Tobin, a famous lesbian activist, and photojournalist, where pupils will explore some examples of photojournalism including Kay’s, understand what each part of the “LGBT+” acronym means and consider how informal photojournalism on social media might be used in modern-day LGBT+ activism.

· The Hays Code – where pupils can understand what The Hays Code was and how it affected LGBT+ representation in film. Analyse Heartstopper a popular modern example of positive LGBT+ representation in TV and evaluate the impact that this can have.
As well as considering what it means to have LGBT+ people “behind the lens” telling their own stories.

· “Gender norms” in fashion – where pupils can compare how attitudes towards different people wearing particular items of clothing have changed over time. Look at some LGBT+ designers who are challenging “gender norms” through their creations. As well as exploring how attitudes towards women wearing “masculine” clothing are different to men wearing “feminine” clothing. Furthermore, design an outfit for their ‘client’ based on a brief.

The resource can be explored and downloaded freely here: https://www.theproudtrust.org/schools-and-training/secondary-resources/lgbt-history-month/