When my daughter was about 3 years old, she asked me to play ‘families’ (or ‘house’) with her one weekend. She said that the family we were playing had a child and two mums. I replied that yes, some families have two mums or two dads, a mum and a dad, just one parent, or sometimes an aunty, uncle or grandparent. She shared with me then that she had been learning about different types of families at daycare.
I have had conversations with friends and other parents about this and I know that not all parents find it an appropriate thing to teach to children. I can respect that as each person is entitled to their beliefs and it is up to each family what principles and values they feel are best to raise their children with. However, I personally want my children to accept all children and people regardless of any differences, and I teach them that everyone is different and unique, but equal and to be respected and appreciated. It may be argued that even if this is taught to children, why at such a young age? Again, this is a fair argument but I feel glad that from a very young age, my daughter has understood that if she sees a friend who has two mums or two dads, for example, she would never see this as something falling outside of a perceived ‘normal’ or something to discriminate against.
This month, in the UK, is LGBTQ+ History Month. Started in 1994 by a school teacher in Missouri USA and quickly spreading across countries around the world, the UK adopted it in 2005 when Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick of Schools Out UK initiated it. Since then, much progress has been made, but homophobic discrimination still exists, including within the paramedic workplace.
A recent news article reported that a bus driver in London allegedly refused to let a man off of the bus at his stop after having witnessed him kissing his date prior to boarding the bus. The man told reporters that upon arriving at his stop, the doors remained closed and the bus driver began shouting at him: ‘I saw you, I saw you kissing another man! It was you kissing another man at the bus station! Don't you think you will be confusing children?’ (Salisbury, 2022).
This is an opinion similar to that which I have encountered in concerned parents and, while it is certainly within a person's rights to hold this belief, it is unacceptable to let that personal belief affect the treatment of individuals receiving a professional service or of colleagues in the workplace. On p. 84, student paramedic, Nathan Le Blancq (They/Them) reflects on how far we have come in terms of LGBTQ+ equality in culture and legislation, and demonstrates some interesting parallels with developments made within the paramedic profession. However, just as our NQP Columnist, Mahdiyah Bandali (2020), has shared recent experiences of racism in the workplace, Nathan has experienced LGBTQ+ discrimination, which may not be widespread but is by no means a thing of the past.
At the root of such prejudice is usually fear. Often, all that is needed to move beyond it is to get to know and understand the unknown, to realise that perhaps we are not so different from one another after all—and that our shared humanity is stronger than any differences between us.