Here at Fife College we believe everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserves equal access to opportunities and services and their safety should be protected.
That is why the college is committed to the elimination of all discrimination, advancing the equality of opportunity and fostering good relations among all people. Our equality and inclusion strategies are embedded into all policies and procedures to ensure the college creates a safe and inclusive working and learning environment.
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The Fife College Students' Association (FCSA) represents all students as Fife College, they host events throughout the year which celebrate national diversity days and months including LGBT history month and Pride. If you would like to find out more email fcsa@fife.ac.uk.
LGBT History Month – People you should know
LGBT History Month occurs every February. The month highlights the incredible things LGBT+ people in all our diversity have achieved throughout history, in all areas of life. Each year LGBTPlusHistoryMonth puts together information and events for people to get involved with and learn more about the rich history, herstory, theirstory.
To support this the FCSA and Fife College staff have put together some of our favourite people throughout history that we think everyone should know about.
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Served as Prime Minister of Iceland from 2009-2013 and was the world’s first, openly gay Prime minister.
https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/joacutehanna-sigurethardoacutettir.html
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Alan Turing
Alan Turing (1912-1954), OBE, FRS, has been described as the father of the modern computer. His life’s work had an immense impact on the history of the 20th century, both in breaking the German ‘Enigma’ encoder in World War II, and in laying the foundations of computer science. However, Turing was judicially persecuted for his homosexuality, which probably led to his suicide on 7 June 1954. His work in computer Science and AI is the foundation of our modern-day advancements in digital technology.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-Turing/Computer-designer
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TJ Klune
‘TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.’ https://www.tjklunebooks.com/about
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Carl Nassib
Openly gay NFL player
‘He first came out via an Instagram post that included a $100,000 donation to the Trevor Project, with the goal of increasing visibility for the organization. He succeeded, and he has not forgotten about it, continuing to support the group to this day.
At the time he came out, he said in his post, "I'm a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I'm really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important. "I actually hope that one day, videos like this and the whole coming-out process are just not necessary."’
https://www.advocate.com/sports/carl-nassib-out-nfl-player
Barbara Gittings
A gay rights activist and widely regarded as the mother of the LGBT civil rights movement.
In 1958, while commuting from Philadelphia, she started the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). This was the nation’s first lesbian civil rights organization in the United States.
Gittings enlisted activists from New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia for the first public demonstrations for gay and lesbian equality. From 1965 to 1969, in front of Independence Hall every July 4th, protests known as Annual Reminders paved the way for the Stonewall riot in 1969. In 1970, a march commemorated the first anniversary of the Stonewall – from Greenwich Village to Central Park. It was remembered as the first New York City Pride Parade.
She went on to stop the American Psychiatric Association from classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Barbara Gittings - Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs - State of Delaware
Patrick Trevor-Roper
The ophthalmic surgeon Patrick Trevor-Roper (1916–2004) was one of just three courageous gay men to appear before the Home Office’s Wolfenden Committee on homosexual offences in 1955. The committee’s report, published two years later, led directly to the 1967 landmark legislation that partially decriminalised male homosexual acts in England and Wales.
Patrick Trevor-Roper and the decriminalisation of homosexuality — Royal College of Surgeons
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Edith Windsor
In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right — a landmark decision that would not have been possible without Edith Windsor
After a 40-year engagement, Windsor married Thea Spyer in Canada in 2007. Spyer passed away just two years later, leaving everything to her wife. Because the US did not recognize their same-sex marriage, Windsor was asked to pay taxes on Spyer’s estate far beyond what a heterosexual spouse would be required to pay on the estate of their deceased spouse.
Windsor took her case to court and in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in her favour. Two years later, the court expanded on that ruling in another case that led to federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/us/edith-windsor-dead-same-sex-marriage-doma.html
Sally Ride
Sally Ride was the youngest ever astronaut at 32 and the first American woman in space.
In 2001 she set up Sally Ride Science, providing scientific programmes and teacher training in the effort to “make science cool again”, particularly for young girls who are still underrepresented in the field.