And Things Change

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 (a). This was the act of parliament that partly decriminalised male homosexuality (the law never acknowledged lesbian sex), it opened a crack in the wall and was the first step towards change in our society.

I came out when I was eighteen, more than thirty years ago, and overnight I lost almost all of my friends, I was ostracised just for being gay. It was a shocking experience that has left a lasting impact on me.

Today I am married to my husband Martin and work as a Community Nurse in North London. Everyone at work knows my husband and no one has a problem with him, I have almost forgotten the last time I experienced homophobia at work, certainly not in this job.

So much has changed since I was a teenager, changes I would never have believed back then. We have marriage equality, we have protections against discrimination at work and when we use businesses or services, the Equality Act (b). Lesbian and gay characters can be found on so many different television programs. We have won so many protections and rights under the law in this century that it makes our world almost unrecognisable from the one I first came out into.

So we can just relax and sit back, all the work has been done. Unfortunately no. Homophobia is still alive, it is just not as blatant as it used to be, and the NHS is still not an open and welcoming place to everyone.

In 2016 a BMA study found that over 70 percent of LGBT NHS doctors have experienced homophobia at work, and three quarters had not reported it because they feared it would not be taken seriously or they feared reprisals (1). “I don’t think the NHS is an LGBT-friendly environment”, said Dominic, one of the doctors contributing to the study. This type of homophobia isn’t restricted to doctors only.

Last year also saw the unsightly sceptical of NHS England going to court so they would not have to fund PrEP, the HIV prevention medication (2). If used correctly PrEP is 86% effective (3), far higher than most vaccines. If PrEP prevented heart disease or diabetes we would be welcoming it and there would be no question the NHS would provide it. But PrEP prevents HIV and NHS England felt it could justify not funding it, tapping into the homophobia around HIV.  A Nursing Standard Twitter poll at the time found that 54% thought PrEP should be self-funded and not provided by the NHS (4), and it was mostly nurses taking part in that poll.

There was a shocking spike in hate crimes following the referendum result last summer (6). Less publicised was the 147% rise in homophobic crimes in this period (7). Homophobia hasn’t gone away and the Brexit climate seems to be giving it oxygen again.

Brexit also raises another challenge for LGBT people. When Britain leaves the EU all the EU laws that are also part of our laws will be reviewed and we might lose many of them. EU Article 10 offers protect from discrimination, including on grounds of sexuality (8). Employment Framework Directive 2000/78 (9) protects people against discrimination at work on grounds of sexuality.

Many in the Conservative party have openly called for the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act (9a 9b 9c), Theresa May has previously spoken of her dislike of the Human Rights Act (10). What laws, what protections will we lose as Britain separates from the EU? The government has given us no re-assurances, they barely seem to know what they want from Brexit itself.

In America, Donald Trump’s Government has taken a shocking turn. Almost all of his cabinet have previously gone on the record with their anti LGBT views (11). Within only a few hours of Trump becoming 54th president the LGBT section of the White House website disappeared (12a). Trump’s plans to slash federal funding for AIDS have been leaked (12b), and in only the last few days Trump has signed a “religious liberty” executive order (12c). Many LGBT American’s fear this will be only the beginning of the weakening of LGBTI rights in the United States, allowing discrimination against LGBT people in the name of “religious freedom”.

It is no longer true that what American does today we in Britain do tomorrow, but many people here still look to America. People, who have been campaigning for the repeal of marriage equality and LGBT protections, will be looking very keenly at Trump’s administration, especially as they roll back LGBT equality.

Peter Tatchell once said that LGBT people are the litmus test of how a society respects human rights (13). If a society doesn’t value diversity how will it value anyone? But why should nurses worry about human rights? Because if we don’t how can we nurse anyone with dignity.

(This was originally published as part of the Nursing Standard magazine’s LGBT History Month special, it was also published on the RCNi website here. Unfortunately you have to be registered with RCNi to view it. Therefore I have re-published it here, on my blog, after updating it.)

Drew Payne

It’s That Time of the Year, Again

This week saw the publication of the Nursing Standards’ Lesbian and Gay History month special. I started this blog, four years ago now, with an entry about my first Guest Editorship of the Nursing Standard, for their first Lesbian and Gay History month special.

 

It had come about as a reply to a very homophobic letter they’d received from a Christian Nurse. There was an outcry against this letter, especially from the RCN’s Out Group, who I was involved with. The upshot of this was that they ran their first Lesbian and Gay special and by a series of lucky connections, and being in the right place at the right time, I was the guest editor. It’s still one of the proudest things I’ve done, as far.

 

This year, my contribution was only a review but I’m still very glad they’re running the special. We’re seeing an increasing backlash against Lesbian and Gay equal rights, especially from many Christians. It almost feels as if anyone who stands up against homophobia is being called a “fascist” – the irony is unbelievable.

 

Healthcare, in this country, is still not the safe and prejudiced-free place it should be. There is still a lot of underhand and overt homophobia, especially among Healthcare Professionals – I know because I’ve lost count of the times I’ve witnessed it, first and second hand. This Nursing Standard special is one good step against this.

 

Drew.

It’s February and it’s LGBT History Month

This year I have again been involved with Nursing Standard to mark LGBT History Month. Unfortunately they didn’t run a special edition to mark it but I was invited to write an editorial for them, and naturally I said yes.

The theme of it was The Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, the legalisation that makes it unlawful to deny anyone goods or services because of their sexuality or even perceived sexuality. This is a revolutionary law for lesbians and gay men, it takes away the shadow that I’ve lived with for most of my life; that shadow of worry that I would be turned away because I’m gay. “We don’t want/allow your sort here.”

One of the first effect we have witnessed has been the Lillian Ladele case. She was a registrar who refused to preside at Civil Partnerships because she said they went against her Christian beliefs. She was eventually dismissed and took her employer to an Employment Tribunal, claiming she was the victim of religious discrimination. She lost on appeal, the judge saying her behavior was discriminatory. We’ve repeatedly seen this, Christians claiming they are the “victims” of discrimination because they can no longer use their traditional homophobia. (Naturally, my editorial wasn’t as blunt as this)

I was so pleased to be asked to write this. Healthcare, in Britain, is still not the friendliest place for lesbians and gay men but Nursing Standard has been very positive in tacking homophobia in it. Their LGBT History Month specials have been wonderful and they have repeatedly promoted lesbian and gay rights. To be part of that is so important to me. Being involved with them has also benefited me, it has pushed my writing career up so many levels; I wouldn’t as well published as I am now with the experience they gave me. But most of all, I feel that their coverage of LGBT History Month is so important for moving nursing forward, and I’m so proud to be involved with it.

More about Nursing Standard can be found at:
http://nursingstandard.rcnpublishing.co.uk/

Drew.

My Part in Lesbian and Gay History Month.

It’s the first, full week in February so it’s LGBT History Month and again I’ve been involved. This year saw the third Nursing Standard special edition for LGBT History Month and again I wrote for it. Previously I have been Guest Editor, this year we saw a Lesbian Guest Editor, but I wrote one of the feature articles.

My article was a look at homophobic violence and what nurses can do for people who’ve been victims of it (I don’t use the word victim lightly). We have seen a rise of homophobic attacks, which frighteningly seems to have increased with all the new rights we’ve won. Nurses can often be the first healthcare professionals who come into contact victims of it yet its a subject that is rarely talked about. My article was a simple guide for nurses faced with a victim, I didn’t go into any details of what causes it or how to psychologically treat the effects of it, it was just a simple guide for what to do if a nurse is faced with someone who’s been homophobically attacked. It did give me my first double page feature in Nursing Standard.

The Nursing Standard LGBT History Month special is something I believe strongly in. Nursing is seen as a “caring” profession yet there is so much ignorance about LGBT issues in it. When I was a student nurse (all those years ago) I was faced with a wall of homophobia from my follow student nurses, it was a shock at the time. During my nursing career I’ve seen so much ignorance, often not willful homophobia but ignorance driving homophobia, and yet Lesbians and Gay Men are still many nurses’ patients – even if the nurses don’t realize it. The only way to open peoples’ eyes is information, is writing about the issues in the nursing press (who still carry a lot of influence).

I started writing for the Nursing Standard with their first LGBT History Month special, now I regularly write for them as a freelancer and I’m not going to stop any time soon; but the LGBT History Month special is still so important to me. As a student nurse I could never have imaged any nursing publication having a Lesbian and Gay special, they rarely carried any articles about any LGBT issues: I don’t want to go back to that time.

Drew.

Nursing Standard’s Gay History Month Special

Welcome to the first entry on my new blog (Yes, yes, I know well behind everyone else, even Paris Hilton was here before me). I intend to keep it as a journal of my writing career to date so, if you’re interested, you can follow it. I’ll try and keep this updated as regularly as possible but no real promises.

The most important thing I have done this year is act as guest editor, for the second time, for Nursing Standard magazine (http://www.nursing-standard.co.uk/) on their Gay History month special. I wrote the editorial, a career’s article (on gay men’s barriers to accessing health) and a book review. It’s hard to say what a privilege this is, Nursing Standard is one of the biggest British nursing magazines and they asked me back to be the guest editor again – I guess they like me. I learnt so much from being the guest editor first time, doing so gave my writing career the kick start it needed and gave me a much appreciated boost of confidence. So often I write and write, finally screw up my confidence to actually send off one piece and then never hear anything back about it, or worse still get a two line rejection letter (“Your writing does not fit our style”!!) months down the line. With Nursing Standard the feedback was there and then and they were more then happy with my work.


Afraid my novel has been pushed to the back burner, somewhat, but watch this space, as they say.

Yours,