LGBT+ History Week

This week, the school has held a number of events to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. This year’s LGBTHM theme is “How to be a good LGBT+ ally”.

On Monday, the High Master launched the week with an assembly about being an LGBT+ ally. Mr Anthony also shared a video with pupils on good allyship.

On Monday evening, as part of the school’s virtual events programme, record-holding Rugby Union referee Nigel Owens MBE delivered the keynote speech for the week. Nigel delivered an open and inspirational account of his life and passed on a message of self-acceptance and respect to the audience. The talk was followed by a question and answer session in which Nigel provided engaging answers to a selection of audience questions, of which there were over 70 submitted. A great deal of positive feedback was received following the event.

At lunchtime on Wednesday, the half-termly meeting of the SPS Equality Discussion Group took place. This open forum for pupils and staff focuses on ensuring St Paul’s is an inclusive community and discussion is open to a range of equality issues, including race, sexuality, faith and gender. Wednesday’s meeting was chaired by Mr Anthony, who will feed back ideas discussed to the school’s Senior Management Team.

Pupil-led talks have taken place throughout the week, and societies have held events. These have included:

Junior Philosophy, Politics and Psychology Society: Identity Politics: A Destructive Pressure for Queer Artists?

GeoSoc: Alexander Von Humboldt: The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of

Spectrum: A Long-Fought Battle: The Origins of an LGB Community

Spectrum: Medicine, Science, and Gender: A Conflict of Interest?

Classics Society: Real Men Wear Skirts: Gender Identity in the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece

Play Reading: “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner: A Gay Fantasia