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School of Education and Social Work

LGBTQ+ in ESW

The School of Education and Social work is committed to equality for LGBTQ+ people and to increasing awareness and understanding of LGBTQ+ issues through our research and practice.

We recognise also that, while specific resources and support are organised under this acronym, that LGBTQ* comprises a diverse group of people who may not identify as a ‘community’ (see for further explanation).

LGBT History Month 2024 logoLGBT+ History Month

This month - February 2024 - we are celebrating LGBT+ History Month which has the theme: 'Medicine - Under The Scope'.

We have a number of images scrolling on our plasma screen in reception telling the story of how medicine has related to the LGBT+ community from the 19th century to the present day, and celebrating the pioneers who advanced attitudes as well as practices over that period.

We also hope to bring in speakers who will lead sessions on this theme for staff and students. Watch this space for more details which we will publish once they are known.

Meanwhile, check out  from Lecturer in Social Work, Dr Paul Shuttleworth from his 'Do Do Social Work' series on LGBTQIA+ issues.

Support and Resources

Institutional Support

External Support

  • Contact the for listening support and access to a range of services to support the diverse LGBTQ+ community.
  • Access resources from , a national transgender charity, which supports Trans rights and the positive representation of Trans people in the UK and worldwide.

Educate

  • Read about at work from Stonewall.
  • Educate yourself and your students by drawing on the reading and media collated to mark LGBTQ+ History Month every February.
  • Access resources on creating an inclusive higher education environment for LGB and people from Advance HE.
  • See article on '' from the website Insider Higher Ed.
Networks

LGBT+ Staff Network
The University's LGBT+ Staff Network seeks to increase awareness and understanding of LGBT+ issues. You can find out more on  and , or by emailing lgbt-staff@sussex.ac.uk.

Trans & Non-Binary Staff Network
The TransNonbinary Staff Network is a confidential and a fully inclusive group, open to all members of staff or postgraduates who identify as trans or non-binary. It meets occasionally to discuss and review policy development, as well as organising different events throughout the year. If you would like to join the network or would like further information you can contact the network by emailing the mailing list transnonbinarystaff@sussex.ac.uk. The mailing list is monitored and – to ensure confidentially – is accessed only by the Chair of the network.

Terminology

There are a lot of ways that trans people can describe their identities. Understanding the words and labels people use encourages respect and understanding. The following links provide guidance:

LGBTQ+ Research in ESW

How young people in rural Zambia understand sexuality and gender identity

Zambian researcher, Agness Mumba Wilkins, completed her research study in 2024 for which she explored understandings of sexuality among young people in rural Zambia. She offered a strong critique of heteronormativity in a dominant sexual reproductive health education (SRHE) curriculum - such as the 2014 Zambia Comprehensive Sexuality Education Framework - as technically colonial. Agness highlighted how modern SRHE threatens to distort, silence and destroy the plurality and multiplicity of identities to impose a universal heterosexual norm. In doing so, she showed how criminalisation and a culture of silence and self-censorship around non-normative identity politics, had persuaded most young people to conform to the heterosexual norm. Whilst highlighting sporadic movements of solidarity for LGBTQI+ in urban areas of Zambia, Agness suggested adopting SHRE pedagogical approaches which have the potential to promote more open, complex, and shifting egalitarian and social justice principles.

Research on trans people with learning difficulties

Lorne Power completed their Social Research Methods MSc which they combined with Social Work practice at a specialist community disability service in Brighton. Lorne’s areas of interest are social work with LGBTQ+ people, radical social work with people with learning difficulties, participatory methods and the newly emerging field of social work practitioner research. Lorne hopes to go on to undertake doctoral study to research further the experiences of gender variant and/or trans people with learning difficulties.

What are the recommendations for anti-oppressive practice in social work that includes trans people?

A former Social Work BA student had a rapid review article published in the journal Critical and Radical Social Work in March 2022 on  which highlights the voices of trans people with reference to their experiences in relation to social work. A key finding was the absence of the perspectives of trans social workers in research.