Sue Louise Sanders is Emeritus Professor Harvey Milk Institute 2015 (born in 1947 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

). She is, an " out and proud" lesbian, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

rights activist who has specialized in challenging oppression in the public and

voluntary sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit s ...

s for over forty years.

Career

After studying at London's New College of Speech and Drama (now part of

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

) where she received a teaching diploma, Sanders studied counseling on alcohol-related problems as well as

gestalt therapy Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist–client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, ...

and contribution training. She also holds qualifications on dealing with

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

and

trauma Trauma most often refers to: * Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source * Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic i ...

. Since 1967, she has been a teacher, tutor and a lecturer on

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

, drama and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

in schools, universities and other organisations, both in London and in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Since 1984, Sanders has worked as a management consultant and trainer for the public and voluntary sector. She was a member of the LGBT Advisory Group to the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

(since 1999), was an independent adviser to the London Criminal Justice Board, and is a member of the Hate Crime Independent Advisory Group for the Ministry of Justice, she was a member of the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

LGBT working party (since 1999), a member of the Southwark anti Homophobic Forum (which she joined in 1997) and was a consultant to the Crown Prosecution Services, helping them produce national policy on prosecuting homophobic crime effectively. In 1996, she co-founded Chrysalis with Paul Patrick, a consultancy which delivered training around

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

issues – particularly anti-

heterosexism Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that heterosexua ...

. In 2000, she became the co-chair of Schools Out, a group working for the equality of LGBT people in the education system, which was started in 1974.(neither her nor Paul Patrick were there at the start). With the help of the Schools Out committee, she and Paul Patrick instituted the UK's first

LGBT History Month LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the List of LGBT rights by region, gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high- ...

; this was launched in December 2004 at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

and then took place the following February.. Then in 2011 she instigate
The Classroom
a website with over 50 lesson plans free for teachers to 'Usualise' and 'Actualise' LGBT issues across the curriculum and in all key stages tied to the national curriculum. It has proved massively popular, uploaded by the TES and Guardian and now viewed by thousands both in this country and round the world Sanders has directed many plays in London's fringe theatres and has been involved in the production of radio programmes for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in Sydney. She is the author of poetry and short stories as well as many articles and brochures on feminist issues, education and homophobia. She regularly appears on TV and radio programmes dealing with equality and LGBT issues and is a keynote speaker and workshop leader in many conferences dealing with

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

, homophobia, and LGBT issues. In 2018, she deposited her archive in the collections of the

Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, located near Liverpool Street station and Spitalfields market. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, c ...

Awards

In 2019 Sue was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the rainbow honours board In 2014 she was short-listed for the lifetime achievement award in the National Diversity Awards. She regularly appears in the Independent LGBT Power list. In 2012 she was awarded a Commendation from the Metropolitan Police service for her long-standing involvement and commitment to the MPS LGBT Advisory Group and her contribution to improving policing services for LGBT Londoners. In 2007, Sanders received the Clio's Silver Cup Award from the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network for outstanding achievements in documenting and disseminating information about

LGBT History LGBT history dates back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love and sexuality of ancient civilizations, involving the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and cultures around the world. What survives af ...

. In July 2009 she was awarded the first Derek Oyston Award in recognition of her lifetime's campaigning for LGBT rights at the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association ( GALHA) and the 40th anniversary of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE).. In 2002 she received the Crown Prosecution award for Equality and Diversity.

References

External links

LGBT History Month

Schools Out UK

The Classroom

Sue Sanders, Schools Out and LGBT History Month Archive
Bishopsgate Institute
I was a lesbian teacher under Section 28 and it was absolutely frightening
Pink News - 24 May 2018

UK Gay News - 14 July 2005

Pinknews, 17 October 2006 * - 20 November 2006, TUC headquarters in London.

Pinknews - 27 March 2007
Half an Hour with Sue Sanders
- podcast interview

PinkNews - 6 March 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Sue 1947 births Alumni of Middlesex University English lesbians English LGBT rights activists Living people 20th-century English LGBT people 21st-century English LGBT people