Charity turns uni students into LGBT+ ambassadors

Just Like Us is a revolutionary charity with a un-revolutionary aim. With debates raging over the visibility of LGBT+ actors and characters on stage and screen, this charity brokers a more grassroots solution to ensure school pupils can meet role models just like them. By training ambassador students from Bristol’s universities and connecting them with local schools, this national charity is making sure invisibility is a thing of the past.

In 1988, government legalisation made the promotion of homosexuality illegal, but 15 years on from the repeal of Section 28, politicians, teachers and LGBT+ charities have raised the continuing shortfall in school curricula. A report released by Stonewall in 2017 found that 40% of young people are taught nothing about LGBT+ issues whatsoever.

The charity has already worked with nearly 20,000 kids in talks and workshops and this year Just Like Us has established a national initiative called School Diversity Week from July 2-6. It is set to involve over 400,000 teachers and pupils nationwide in events that celebrate LGBT+ equality.

James Haslam and Ffion Lewis are both Univeristy of Bristol students who regularly lead assemblies that champion LGBT visibility to secondary school students

Clodagh Chapman is one of the charities ambassadors and a student at the University of Bristol. Chapman regularly leads assemblies in secondary schools in Bristol and shares her story with hundreds of teenagers. “What I find especially touching is when we get questions from students who do already identify as LGBT+ because often they bear so much resemblance to the sort of questions I had at their age. I feel really honoured to be able to be the role model I needed when I was fourteen,” Chapman explains.

James Haslam says he wanted to become a volunteer because when he “was in secondary school, the LGBT topic was swept under the carpet, and this led to me feeling isolated at times. I felt I couldn’t talk about it to anyone”.

Although assemblies highlight the many famous role models in the LGBT+ community, they focus on the often touching and very honest experiences of the young people that lead them. Only a few years older than their audiences, the ambassadors reflect on the complexity of navigating their teenage years whilst understanding their identity in a world that often represents LGBT+ in very limited ways. Haslam, for example, says stereotypes held him back from being able to identify the way he wanted.

Tim Ramsey, co-founder of the charity says: “We spend a lot of time ensuring our ambassadors feel comfortable and confident in telling their stories. It takes great courage to go to a school and talk about what was, in many cases, some of a person’s most vulnerable moments.”

Tim Ramsey founded Just Like Us after an experience in his 20s made him realise many people lack LGBT role models

Ramsey says young people are at the heart of everything the charity does and explains that the charity’s mission is a very personal one. “What finally gave me the confidence to come out was meeting a guy called Ben. Ben was a similar age and had gone similar school, but unlike me he was gay, and it was a positive part of his life in a way I’d never imagined. I set up Just Like Us so kids in school could hear from their ‘Ben’, not when they’re 25 as I was, but when they’re 11 and need that support most.”

That support is still needed, as figures from Just Like Us and Stonewall show. While homophobia has declined 20% since 2007, 45% of young LGBT+ people are bullied at school, and they are four-times more likely to commit suicide than their peers. While figures like that are startling, the statistics at all levels are unsettling. Two-in-five of those students skip school to avoid coming into contact with bullies.

The picture is improving. The report also found that schools including the topics in lessons were 30% less likely to report bullying linked to LGBT-phobias. From 2012 to 2017, Stonewall found a 10% fall in the number of students reporting that they learned nothing about LGBT+ issues at school – Just Like Us are one of the integral reasons why.

Jess Huzzey, senior teacher at Bristol Free School, reflects on her experiences in a Just Like Us assembly as an inspiring half hour. “We wanted to be able to support out LGBT+ students by exposing them to positive LGBT+ role models. The student ambassadors are so passionate about what they do, many of them recalling how isolated they felt at school without this kind of support.”

“The courage of the student ambassadors to share their stories is really inspirational and the effect they have as role models for our LGBT+ students is invaluable.  It’s also a very engaging way of communicating to our students who do not identify as LGBT+ how they can be supportive allies to their LGBT+ peers,” she continues.

Ambassadors complete a three-part training programme. In the first session, Just Like Us focuses on developing their stories and trains them in working with young people of different ages. The second stage is delivered by their Empowerment Partners, who are world-leading employers who provide training in presentation skills to help ambassadors maximise their impact in schools. The final stage tasks ambassadors with presenting a mock session followed by one-to-one feedback.

James Haslam and Ffion Lewis give a talk to a group of year 9 students in Bristol using the skills the charity helped them train in

Ffion Lewis has volunteered for Just Like Us for eight months. “I really love it. I’m able to give LGBT+ young people the advice and information I’d have liked to receive at that age. It has also massively helped my confidence and public speaking skills, and I’ve had the opportunity to go back to my own secondary school to give a talk which was a really great experience.”

Clodagh agrees: “And it’s always a massive confidence boost when you get a really deep, insightful question from a student about something you brought up. It goes to show that the messages we’re delivering are genuinely being taken in and making a difference.”

Just Like Us continues to show that, 30 years on from the introduction of Section 28, the pace of change when it comes to LGBT+ rights is as fast as ever.

Read more: Rally against ‘criminal’ cuts to Bristol schools