6 LGBTQ+ Books to support your students all year round
June is an awareness month of visibility, acceptance, and celebrating diversity.
Originating from the 1969 Stonewall Riots, Pride is a reminder of a huge turning point for LGBTQ+ rights. A police raid in the early hours of 28th June 1969 was the catalyst for a series of spontaneous protests by members of the LGBTQ+ community. Patrons and residents fought the police in several days of protests and clashes, resulting in the formation of various advocacy groups and the first-ever Pride marches. We can be grateful for these trailblazers who paved the way for changes to LGBTQ+ rights and equality all those years ago.
Celebrating these achievements is crucial within the community and our wider society. We all deserve to feel like we can be truly authentic ourselves and it’s only by understanding our shared history, struggles and successes that we can hope to improve and build upon a more inclusive world for all of us.
Note from our founder Nic Ponsford: "The benefit of standing up for your rights is that others see you standing up - and then stand shoulder to shoulder with you."
When it comes to creating positive, inclusive cultures, we know that it's more than just rainbow logos; it's about fostering genuine acceptance, implementing inclusive policies, providing education and support, and actively challenging discrimination to ensure everyone feels valued and respected year-round.
That’s why we’ve dipped into #GECKnowHow, the biggest collection of DEI resources - for everyone, to highlight brilliant books, popular podcasts and fantastic films for Pride month and beyond.
Here at the GEC we know the importance of young people having access to books that feature information about themselves, their families and their wider LGBTQ+ community. It’s possible to empower and educate people from a young age, to encourage intersectional conversations that promote inclusivity when reading about LGBTQ+ characters and families, that may mirror or be different from our own.
It’s not only books that are a crucial resource for reflecting our lives and the future of inclusivity. We also recognise the importance of LGBTQ+ representation on screen, especially for young people whose interaction with members of their community may be limited.
Without the frame of reference provided by a TV show, story, or textbook how can we expect to nurture the values of acceptance and tolerance in our classrooms and wider school community?
KnowHow to support your LGBTQ+ students all year round!
In addition to GECKnowHow, our GEC Members have access to a wealth of resources in our GEC Library, including CPD for supporting your LGBTQ+ staff, hundreds of hours of videos, including personal interviews with our Collective experts, GEC Playbooks, all the training you need and our series of animations and lesson resources for assemblies and lessons. All QA’ed by the GEC and all of which are included in your annual membership for all of your staff.
More about the GEC
The GEC has positively impacted over 216,000 young people across a huge range of settings, and our award-winning platform has already captured the voices of over 10,000 students this year!
Our ‘Netflix’ style training boasts over 30 days worth of CPD materials to support your staff in creating a positive and inclusive culture. Once you’ve captured the important data we can help you simplify the process of working towards diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Not a member yet? Hear from our founder and access a virtual demo.
KnowHow is the biggest* collection of DEI resources ever - for everyone!
It’s our way of helping parents, teachers, carers and the wider education community to find material that supports our Inclusion Revolution. Follow us for the newest KnowHow collections, or share your best resources with us.