The Schools Out National Celebrate 30 Years In Promoting Education.
October 2004
Schools-Out! Celebrates Their 30th Birthday with a Brass Plaque and a Conference
by Jonathan J Joslin
Schools-Out! celebrates 30 years of working to improve the UK school system to be inclusive of all sexualities and and they put on very good show, considering the lack of funds the groups has to achieve such an event. B-F-P's Jonathan J Joslin went to the Schools-out 30th birthday celebration and finds him self in one the most surreal situations he's ever experienced, as the Mayor of Manchester reveals a brass plaque in the town hall museum to celebrate the history, fight and death of Section 28.
Apart from the 30 year birthday, the conference was promoted as a way to bring together issues and thoughts of other groups in an attempt to view the best angles of promoting education curriculum materials and issues and what issue should be at the top the agenda and why. Meaning a process of all groups views and knowledge to move forward in the right directions.
The B-F-P research organisation and web site was created based on such a process. By looking every issue objectively regardless of personal issues or views of the person running the organisation thinks things are, would, could, should or might be. And only looking for the factual reality behind every issue, however painful some issues work against the personal point of view. Which the conference in relation to B-F-P's principles of edification to forward knowledge seemed at first, to be based on the same principles. At first..
The conference was mix of interesting HBT groups from fflag & Queer Youth Alliance to trade union & government groups like DFEE & the NUT. The conference started slightly mismashed without knowing who exactly was turning up and the organisation of the conference was quiet makeshift in its presentation but Schools-out! has a seriously low budget to justify that. After a morning of listening to the history of School-Out! the conference was split up into segregated groups were individuals and persons from HBT community advisory groups and Government groups could confer with each other on what is the best way to move forward and bring their views forward to edify what is needed.
Unfortunately to my surprise watching the congregation of my segregated conference group which including the organiser of the conference who is a sweat lady and her heart is in the right place, but is was like watching a horse race were everyone was verbally running around in circles with sight blinkers on and chasing a rabbit they couldn't see, in restricting them selves to only what they believe things are, could, should, would and might be, and ignoring anyone else's views, opinions and research or even contemplating the others words. Which i found as about as constructive as banging you're head against a brick wall. The conference was 80% explaining history and future ideals, 7% trying to talk about what maybe needed, and 12% from "Out OnThursday's" talking about serious and real issues that actually did need to talked about, which the blinkered blind horses (LGBT advisory persons) seem to be going yea, yea yea, la la la, bla bla bla whatever.
The only genuine part of the conference was when Ralf Hutton and Suki Sandhu from the youth group "Out On Thursday's" gave the most interesting talk on ethnic and racial issues and self victimisation issues of which very few groups truly understand to the depths of which was explained.
Schools-Out as an organisation with very little money, could have done a lot more on what was really needed to be conferred to LGBT groups without having to spend anything more than they did. Apart from the Out On Thursday's talk, I found the conference to be just another soap box to give these LGBT group heads a platform to boast, and in the process promoting inequality by only keeping to their own personal judgements of the single minded point of views of what they think is needed to be given by people running the debates, and rejecting without contemplating all views, opinions and debates of others with as much, if not more knowledge on the subject matter, and very little of anything else, leaving everyone unfulfilled in relation to why we all came to Manchester.
In depth review and other factors of the conference below.
Commemorative Plaque / School-Out Conference (Headed by Sue Sanders - Centre)
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(Short Digression) For the past 2 1/2 years I have been investigating a particular subject in relation to the Church Of England and the Sexual Orientation Regulations, and found serious implications of a new Section 28, with links between two government acts & one legislation Bill that create a very complex but working legal mechanism of law that not only does the same job as Section 28 it works exactly the same way and also has more dangerous consequences than the original.
The reason why civil rights had not realised this new Section 28, is because this one has been spread through different laws to work in relation to each other, but, they don't state any direct discriminating accusation towards any minority for it to be obvious, which was achieved by how politicians use human rights laws on inherent dignity over the Homosexual community.
Over the past year I have been trying to get rights groups and activists to read my investigation, but they all dismissed the possibility without question or even reading one piece of my research. And through all my work I was left feeling like I was the only person with the knowledge of this new Section 28. In August 2004 I gave this brief to Sue Sanders the Co-Chair of an advisory group called Schools-Out, but unfortunately she has had very little time to read any of it, but she had sent a summary of the brief to to the a top lawyer Sandra Bennet of the NUT, who bizarrely refuted legislative parts of the summery of which are actually construed in present written law.
Sue had sent me an invitation booking form to a conference Schools out was setting up in Manchester, and at that that point, I thought... That would be a great place to get B-F-P's The Name Change Brief on the new Section 28 into the eye's of the education system through activists for the HBT community.
30 years of Schools-Out! (The Maroyal Reception)
I was invited by Sue Sanders of Schools-Out to a Maroyal reception in the Manchester town hall on friday the 1st of October and the birthday celebration conference on the 2nd. I of course was delighted to attend so i did, and on arrival at the reception on the forth floor of the town hall which looks like a the queen of England's dinning room, i found this mayoral reception was very limited as to who attends, leaving me wondering why i was invited to the reception being a complete unknown to any of these activists and civil right representatives, because this reception only had about 13 people attending it with the mayor Tom O'Callaghan in all his official wardrobe.
After getting to know some of the people who were going to be at the conference, I thought, I wasn't expecting this, but it gave me confidence for the conference for the next day were I am going to be pushing and promoting the Name Change Brief to get people to understand the illegal fraud of the Sexual Orientation Regulations that no one knows the full consequences of, "and the new Section 28".
How fortunate little old me was invited to a conference on pushing educational materials and protecting Homosexual teachers in school, and one of very few people in the country who are aware of the new Section 28.
While at this reception it was revealed to me that this reception was to celebrate the 15 year campaign, fight and death of the original Section 28 of which 20,000 people turned up in Manchester to campaign against it after a the battle plans were drawn up in the exact same lounge in 15 years ago as the dining reception we were eating and drinking in. After few glasses of wine and a light running buffet dinner the mayor had a surprise in store for us and took us all down stairs to town hall museum. And in an un lit dark hall was a new plaque on a wall..
The lights came on and my face dropped as I stood next to the mayor reading the commemorative plaque which read: Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 (1988-2003) stigmatised lesbians & gay men and effected the education of a generation of young people. Manchester lesbian and gay groups organised the largest national rally against Section 28, which attracted 20,000 people to Albert Square on 20th February 1988.... The Meetings to plan this rally took place in this town hall. Manchester City council apposed this legislation of Section 28 and constantly argued for its repeal...
Their was quiet cheer and small clap of hands as the mayor announced the plaque and what it was for and that Section 28 is dead but it will never be forgotten..
For a moment I thought I heard the theme to the twilight zone as I put my hand to my brow and thought.. Oh, my, God!... Dare I open my mouth..
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The Schools Out Conference.
The conference was not an overly attended one by far, but an interesting experience, full stories of past history that shouldn't have been but happened anyway, and large displays of future aims achievements, hopes and ideals as I sat and waited... and waited... and waited... for some one to start talking about some real issues of what is really being done against the LGBT community at present and how far it goes and how it is being dealt with.
Then, we were all split up into four groups to have our own little conferences, which was unfortunately like watch a racing track of horses running around in circles with blinkers on, to stop any deviation from their own single-minded points of view, and disbelieving without question or contemplation anyone elses suggestions..
Although admittedly I myself put on my own blinkers after being riled by half the group who dismissed the need to talk about the life choice belief against the LGBT community causing the oppression by stating it be a non accentual issue to the subject, and they also dissed any importance in pushing for teaching genuine loving Homosexual relationships in schools equal to Heterosexual relationships because they believed they made a choice to be Homosexuals however much i tried to explain to them that they never made any form of choice on their sexuality. All I saw was a few Bisexuals who believed they are Homosexuals because they are connected to both sexes but predominantly towards the same sex which they believe that was the choice they made in life, without figuring out a simple equation to the their belief which is: If ask a Bisexual who believe they Homosexual to give up the same sex and solely concentrate on the opposite for the rest of their live, they could only say no, because you can not make any form of choice on something that was already there.
I witness a Heterosexual mother representing FFLAG because of her son, ended up looking seriously let down in any hope of support for her son, because these people believing the human race born Bisexual.
All in all the conference was fun, interesting, stressing and eye opening, but the best part was when Ralf Hutton of "Out On Thursday's" spoke to the crowd and brought forwards all the views i had been expressing to the groups, which was: What needs to be implemented in to any form of education, is understanding of what exactly Homosexuality & Bisexuality is... Without that, how does anyone ever expect the rest of society to understand what LGBT minority is to further equality.
B-F-P was given the opportunity to make supporting documents available for the conference stalls : The Name Change Brief Summery / The Official meaning Of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality / What really was section 28?
Section 28 will live on, unfortunately unbeknown to many, Not just in memory...
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