LGBT+ History Month 2022

Did you know that 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the very first Pride March in the UK in 1972?

Meanwhile, Schools Out UK is celebrating more than 45 years of campaigning for LGBT+ inclusion, providing resources and training for schools and educational institutions like Coleg Gwent, including materials for LGBT+ History Month.

The aims of LGBT+ History Month include promoting equality and diversity by:

• Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and educational
• Raising awareness on matters affecting the LGBT+ community
• Making educational institutions safe spaces for all LGBT+ communities
• And promoting the welfare of LGBT+ people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables them to achieve their full potential.

As a diverse and inclusive college, our community represents all segments of society. So, it’s important for us to celebrate and promote diversity and equality this month, and always, through our day-to-day work at the college. One of the latest things that we’re proud to introduce is pronoun pins!

Introducing pronoun pins

Learning Resources Officer, Carli Drew from the City of Newport Campus, is a member of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion steering board at Coleg Gwent. The steering group aims to celebrate the diversity of our learners, staff and wider college community, while making Coleg Gwent a place where everyone feels free to be their authentic selves in a safe environment.

Carli’s daughter, Rubie Jobbins, is a learner at the college and a proud member of the LGBT+ community. After speaking to Rubie and her friends about some of the changes they’d like to see on the campuses to help us improve their experience, they came up with the idea of pronoun pins. This offers a simple way to make it easier for everyone to show what their preferred pronouns are, in an informal way.

By purchasing pin badges for the college, Carli and Rubie have been able to put this change into practice, making free pronoun pins available at each campus in communal areas such as the libraries. Both staff and learners can now pick these up and attach them to their lanyards to let their peers know their preferred pronouns.

The pin badges were bought from gayprideshop.co.uk, with 15% of the profits being shared equally between three inspirational LGBT+ charities:

• The Albert Kennedy Trust – supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people who are homeless, living in a hostile environment or in a housing crisis.
• The George House Trust – providing HIV support and advice services.
• Mermaids – supporting gender variant and transgender children, young people up to 20 years old, and their families.

We’re proud to have learners and staff like Rubie and Carli, who make it their mission to promote equality, diversity and inclusion every day in college. LGBT+ History Month is a month for everyone, whether you’re a learner, parent, staff member, or organisation; and whether you’re a member of an LGBT+ network, social group, or not. The new pronoun pins are a simple way you can show your allyship and support to the LGBT+ community, and uphold our core values at Coleg Gwent.

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at Coleg Gwent and register now for our next open event to find out how you can become part of our welcoming community.