I don’t think I had particularly enlightened views as a teenager either. I didn’t know then I was gay, that came later. Too many LGBTQ+ people are raised to hate ourselves before we know ourselves – particularly in conservative homes.Īs a seven-year-old child, I recall watching some kind of daytime chat show where gay relationships were being furiously debated.Ī man stood up and bellowed: ‘It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve’.
I hope we all can be given that chance to grow. And I’ve been a committed activist since. I’m so lucky I had time and space to learn. The argument against the change was loud, but I didn’t know any better. I’m ashamed to admit that I agreed with all of this at the time.Īs a group, we were debating whether or not to include transgender people along with our university lesbian, gay and bisexual group. While one said, ‘It’s just putting all the weirdos together’. ‘Sexuality is different from gender,’ another member reasoned. ‘No trans person has ever joined, so why do we need to do this?’, a member of my university LGB group argued in 2007. I’m so lucky I had time and space to learn (Picture: Benali Hamdache)
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