Pride Month 2022: Celebrating Me
In honour of the LGBT Pride movement and celebration of diversity and freedom to be ourselves, we want to highlight our ‘Celebrating me’ - Helping children with difference and diversity programme.
Pride is a month-long celebration of LGBTQ+ lives, history and culture. The annual global Pride events promote and celebrate the arduous history of groups within society who have fought for the right to be themselves, to be accepted for who they are and to overcome prejudice and marginalisation.
The origins of Pride month stem from the Stonewall uprising in June 1969 which sparked the modern gay rights international movement and global Pride events seek to involve and include anyone who feels that their sexual identity sits outside the mainstream and encompasses all from the gay community but also welcomes straight and heterosexual people too as a celebration of diversity and freedom.
LGBTQ+ Pride Month this year is a landmark occasion which marks 50 years of Pride in the UK and as commemoration there will be a rainbow 50 pence coin which is to be commissioned by the Royal Mint and Pride in London. The coin is to feature Pride in London’s values of Protest, Visibility, Unity and Equality and a donation is to be made to the London LGBT community as part of this special launch.
Celebrating freedom to express yourself and to be accepted for who you are is a human right and one that children need permission to feel, opportunities to talk about and to share their experiences without judgement or prejudice.
Research by Stonewall highlights how 'every young person deserves to see themselves, their family, and the full diversity of our world reflected in their curriculum” and that this “includes teaching about LGBTQ+ identities and issues.' Their most recent research (2017) highlighted that despite making huge steps forward in LGBTQ equality in recent years…
'Nearly half of all LGBTQ pupils still face bullying for being who they are - and in order to change, it’s essential to deliver a curriculum that encourages all children and young people to respect those around them and appreciate difference.'¹
With the updated statutory guidance (2020) for the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum, we have begun to see a greater emphasis on teaching about LGBTQ identities and issues, but there is still concern that many children are still facing bullying and prejudice for who they are and so it remains an ever present issue that there is a qualitative and enhanced Emotions and PSHE curriculum to ensure children are informed, supported and given quality education to understand and celebrate diversity.
Our programme ‘Celebrating me’ promotes difference and diversity; disability, culture, sexual identity and the wide range of diversity within society. It helps to acknowledge the often uncomfortable experience of ‘feeling different’, of not feeling included, valued or that you belong. Feeling a sense of belonging and acceptance is a human need, as is connection to others. It is crucial that we support children to understand the context they live in, to feel appreciated and celebrated for who they are and who they will become.
“When we feel we belong and recognise similarities in people we are with, we feel accepted and safe. But when we feel different, or that we don’t belong, we can feel confused, uncertain or mixed.”
Celebrating differences and acknowledging similarities is powerful in allowing us to be true to ourselves and to value who we are. Our difference and diversity pack helps children to understand the feelings that we may experience and begin to express these thoughts and feelings. It also allows them opportunities to celebrate the beauty of diversity. There are opportunities to understand prejudice and stereotyping, to know how to it may feel to be treated unfairly and how to challenge this. Celebrating difference and celebrating who we are form the core message for children to feel special and unique. Through discussion and the activities with an empathic, trusted adult the children will:
We invite you to explore our Celebrating me wellbeing intervention resource and to help children to feel valued, heard and connected.
