NUT LGBT Conference

I was once again privileged to chair the 18th NUT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Teachers Conference at Hamilton House on 12th November.

After a warm welcome from the Vice-President of the Union, Marilyn Harrop, we welcomed not one but two excellent keynote speakers.

Elly Barnes has pioneered LGBT equality teaching at her school, Stoke Newington High School in Hackney. Her celebrations of LGBT History Month have become a major event in the school's calendar, and she now runs training sessions for teachers in other schools. Elly was named #1 on the Independent on Sunday's Pink List for her work combating homophobia in schools. Elly once again blew us away with the presentation of how this event can develop and embed in the life of the school, and presented us with a wealth of ideas and resources for use in our own schools.

John Amaechi was the first British player to appear in the NBA Basketball league. After a distinguished career in professional basketball, he is a psychologist, New York Times best-selling Author and social entrepreneur working in both the US and the Europe. He is involved with a youth sports club in Manchester where he uses basketball and football to develop emotional literacy with young people, and was recently awarded the OBE. John was an inspiring, entertaining and often challenging speaker.

Delegates took part in a range of workshops that were all well received. These included

Trans teachers-sharing experiences; Magna Carta School students presenting their resource – Homophobia – our closeted education; Celebrating the Classroom run by Tony and Sue from Schools OUT, and a workshop on the new Public Sector Equality Duty run by Jonathan Timbers of the EHRC.

The conference debated the motion that we would put forward to the main NUT Annual Conference in Torquay next year. It was agreed that we send a motion entitled Defending LGBT Rights, and the text can be read here.


The afternoon closed with a panel discussion with Annette Pryce, Nigel Tart, Ros MacNeil of the Union's Equalities Department and myself about being an "out" LGBT Teacher in schools. This developed into a really engaging discussion, with many conference delegates sharing their experiences, ideas and questions.

NUT members will elect the first dedicated LGBT Representative to the National Executive this January. Members must identify as LGBT and register for a vote. To find out more, please visit the membership section of the NUT Website.