Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S2M-5406, in the name of Patrick Harvie, on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history month. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes that February is LGBT History Month and that events will be taking place around Scotland to celebrate the lives of Scottish LGBT people, past and present; congratulates the many organisations that have contributed to LGBT History Month, including voluntary organisations, religious groups, businesses and the Scottish Executive; regrets that LGBT history, from the horrors of the gulags and gas chambers to the achievements of LGBT people in all spheres of life, often remains unwritten and unspoken; believes that this represents a cultural loss to the whole of society; further believes that young LGBT people in particular have a right to learn about their cultural heritage in all its forms, and hopes therefore that many communities, including schools, will participate in LGBT History Month this year and in the future.
I thank the 30 or so members who added their names in support of the motion.
Few people these days accept Henry Ford's view that all history is bunk. Most members will agree that there is great cultural value in the teaching of history. That holds for the history of minority groups in society as well, both because it gives them a sense of the development of their own community and because it benefits wider society. That is part of the purpose of LGBT history month.
One of the last things that I did in my previous job was to create an historical timeline exercise for youth workers, helping to train them on supporting young people coming out. I found references from as early as 8,000 BC right up to the present day, spanning the world's cultural diversity from ancient references, within the world's oldest known written story of Gilgamesh for instance, to examples in the Chinese and Indian cultures, the Greeks—naturally—and the beginnings of formalised legal oppression in Europe's middle ages.
In this year when we mark 300 years since the Act of Union, I will risk mentioning King James VI of Scotland and I of England. James, who commissioned what we now call the authorised version of the Bible and to whom it is dedicated, is one of those characters whose sexuality has not always been recognised by historians. However, it was remarked at the time of his accession to the English throne that
"Elizabeth was King: now James is Queen".
It was also noted with some scorn by one writer that
"The love the King showed men was amorously conveyed as if he had mistaken their sex and thought them ladies, which I have seen Somerset and Buckingham labour to resemble in the effeminateness of their dressings".
The crudeness of that description obscures the human feelings involved. By the end of James's life, he spoke of his love for George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, in terms of marriage—centuries before civil partnership:
"I desire only to live in this world for your sake … I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you, than live a sorrowful widow's life without you".
In more recent times we have seen the hypocrisy that masqueraded as Victorian morality and the celebration and condemnation of Oscar Wilde—a moment when same-sex love dared to speak its name and was brutally punished for doing so. We have seen the beginnings of the emancipation movement, particularly in pre-war Germany, and eventually we saw decriminalisation in the United Kingdom after the Wolfenden report, although more than 20 years passed between its publication and decriminalisation reaching Scotland. Now, we see the steady erosion of the swathes of discriminatory legislation and practice in society. That has been driven partly by the legislators and partly by the activists inspired by events such as the Stonewall riot—a response to the police raids that were still occasionally known in this country even in the 1990s.
We have come far—further than many would have predicted even a few decades ago—but have we reached equality? Even if we have, it does not quite count as the end of this history. I remember using the timeline exercise that I mentioned with a group of LGBT young people who were shocked and puzzled at the concept that their sexuality could ever have been a criminal offence. At the time, I could not decide whether it was good that they were growing up without that concept in their heads. On balance, I would say that it is good, but young people have a right to learn about it in the context of history.
I remember my shock on learning about the liberation of the concentration camps at the end of the second world war. The hair stood up on the back of my neck when I learned that, when the camps were finally liberated, the few homosexuals still left alive were rounded up by the allies and re-imprisoned. It was shocking, but is it more shocking that I was never told? All school students learn something about the horror of the Nazi persecution and mass murder in the middle of the previous century, but very few learn about that fact. Such airbrushing of history—deleting or ignoring aspects of people's lives or even of major world events—diminishes history for us all. That is why we have a programme of events around Scotland for LGBT history month. If history has been airbrushed and if events and people have been left unrecorded, we should remember the words of Oscar Wilde:
"The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it."
I am pleased to acknowledge that the Scottish Executive supports the programme of events. I am pleased, too, that many members have stayed to debate it with us. The Parliament has also made its mark on LGBT history in Scotland, repealing section 2A before the rest of the UK repealed section 28 and in so doing facing down those who wished to turn their prejudice into one of the first major battles of devolution.
That has been the story in more recent years. With every step forward that we have taken towards a society that is more at ease with its own healthy and natural diversity, a small but vocal group has sought to cling to every last shred of discrimination and prejudice, as I am sorry to say is happening again down south even as we speak.
It is greatly to be welcomed that political leaders across the spectrum in all parties are now committed to equality for all in society. That does not mean that there is no more work to do. There is more work to do, such as making good on promises to outlaw hate crime, for example, which many people had hoped the Executive would do in this parliamentary session.
I hope that, if members take away nothing else, they will take away a mental note to return to their parties and examine the commitments that are being made for the coming election, to ensure that the next session of the Scottish Parliament continues to make history for LGBT communities in Scotland.
I congratulate Patrick Harvie on securing the debate and on his speech about this important event. I will clarify one bit of LGBT history at the start. I mean no offence to Patrick Harvie but, contrary to reports that occasionally appear in newspapers, he and I have not lived together, do not live together and—I assure members—will never live together.
I raise that factual inaccuracy, which has appeared in print more than once, because it resurfaced in the disgraceful article about the motion in the Scottish Sunday Express on 14 January. That report entirely erroneously alleged that members who supported the motion had plans
"to force children as young as six to celebrate gay culture at school".
There are of course no such plans. That is homophobic scaremongering of the worst kind. It is not only offensive to LGBT people, but dangerous, because it implies that homophobia is acceptable. Yes, LGBT history month encourages schools to become involved and provides materials for teachers on issues such as ending the official invisibility of LGBT people in schools and developing policies that respect their rights. However, most important, those materials are about tackling bullying, name calling and abusive language, which happen too often in our schools.
I hope that the editor of the Scottish Sunday Express does not condone homophobic bullying and that the newspaper will consider running an article on that issue in a future edition, but I doubt it. Very few young people read the Scottish Sunday Express anyway, so such an article would probably not make much difference.
I am pleased that we in Scotland are taking a more enlightened approach to the issue. I congratulate the Scottish Executive on working with LGBT Youth Scotland on homophobic bullying in schools and on having the courage to award the contract for the next phase of the anti-bullying project better futures to LGBT Youth Scotland along with the Scottish Association for Mental Health.
According to new research that Stonewall has conducted, the majority of young lesbian and gay pupils have experienced homophobic bullying in school and the majority of them do not feel safe when in school. Many young people are confused, isolated and scared about their sexual identity when at school, and homophobia, which manifests itself in physical or psychological bullying, can cause serious mental illnesses and even suicide.
Schools should be involved not in promoting homosexuality—that is the phrase that is often used—but in properly supporting all children, regardless of their sexuality, and in combating homophobia, which too often results from ignorance and the media coverage that we have seen in the Scottish Sunday Express and which reared its head in yesterday's appalling Daily Mail.
LGBT history month provides a chance to look back with pride on what has been achieved in the long struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and recognition. We have come a long way in my lifetime. Let us not forget that homosexuality was still illegal in Scotland 27 years ago.
The bitter fight against section 28 is still so recent in the Parliament's memory, so it is perhaps miraculous that the House of Lords voted last week overwhelmingly in favour of keeping intact the goods and services protections for Northern Ireland. However, I am concerned that the United Kingdom Government appears to be backtracking on that important equalities issue. Discrimination is discrimination. It would be unacceptable to backtrack on discrimination on the grounds of race, religion and gender and it is unacceptable on the ground of sexuality, too. Any exemptions that are written into equalities legislation represent discrimination.
We should not forget that horrific incidents still occur throughout the world. Patrick Harvie touched on the Nazi death camps; we should also remember that LGBT people were imprisoned, killed and tortured at Russian gulags. Such incidents continue throughout the world today.
Eighteen months ago, we learned of the horrific torture and execution of two teenage boys in Iran simply for having committed homosexual acts. I wish that I could say that such torture and execution is unusual, but it is a fact that homosexual acts continue to be outlawed and that they continue to carry extreme penalties in many countries.
LGBT history month provides many opportunities. It allows us a chance to reflect on the lives and contributions to society of LGBT people, to think positively about what has been achieved and to look to the future with optimism. However, we must not forget the plight of LGBT people in other places, our bitter history and the prejudices that still exist in our society. Now is the time to brace ourselves so that LGBT people continue to meet the challenges that they face throughout Scotland as individuals and as a community.
I congratulate Patrick Harvie on securing the debate.
Whether or not a person is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, LGBT history month is a fantastic initiative that will inform, educate and celebrate LGBT culture. The initiative is about celebrating and embracing the identities of everybody in society, including those of the youngest children in schools. I totally object to the idea that young children should not be educated and encouraged to be tolerant and inclusive from the earliest age, particularly with respect to sex education.
My younger daughter was notorious in our street as a result of the approach that I took to sex education. I do not know whether any member has seen "Mummy Laid an Egg", which is a fantastic book for children by Babette Cole that sets out in graphic cartoon detail how babies are made. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter told her boyfriend about it. He was shocked and horrified, as he had had a different experience of sex education, which was delayed—unfortunately, that is a common experience. My daughter thought that his reaction was funny. When I asked her whether she remembered a time when she did not know about sex, she replied that she did not. There was no need for the big talk or for unpicking misinformation or prejudice.
The same approach should be taken towards the LGBT community. It is much more difficult for prejudices to form if our children gain the relevant knowledge automatically and by osmosis from the very beginning. There should be no taboos or no-go areas. If there are no taboos or no-go areas, society will be much more equal and tolerant and less prejudiced in the long run.
Of course some groups will resist such an approach, but we must challenge ideas about where morality comes from. Everybody has the absolute right to determine their own morality and to take values from their background, whether or not that background is faith based. People with faith-based values do not have a monopoly on determining morality. In fact, if we examine the development of morality and consider the Bible as a literary work as opposed to a work that is literally true, we can see that morality has moved on. I do not accept the morality that results from interpreting the Bible literally from a Christian perspective; I do not accept that it is not all right for men to participate in homosexual activity and that it is all right for a daughter to be offered as a replacement for a man, which happened many times in the Bible. The Bible is ridden with such sexism and violence towards women. I do not accept that the morality in the Bible is the only type of morality. It is not my morality.
I say well done to those who will be involved in LGBT history month, which is a great initiative that should encourage society to have the courage to move on, challenge prejudice and accept people's views but not to bow down to prejudice.
I congratulate my colleague on his motion for debate—the topic is a very important one for the Parliament.
One of the most positive aspects of LGBT history month is that a wide range of organisations will be working together to provide the programme of events throughout Scotland. In my region, the South of Scotland, OurStory Scotland, which works to collect, archive and present the life stories and experiences of the LGBT community in Scotland, will be running displays at the library in Dumfries, with storytelling sessions at Lochthorn library.
In the three years since it was founded, the LGBT Youth Scotland Dumfries and Galloway service has established an LGBT centre, an advisory body and a research project that is looking into the particular needs of the community in a rural region. The group has worked with local partners such as the council, the health board, the local constabulary and the Dumfries youth inquiry service. Indeed, a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education highlighted the work done between LGBT Youth Scotland and the Dumfries youth inquiry service as a model of good practice.
Gay people in rural areas face many more difficulties than they face in the big cities. For example, the NHS Dumfries and Galloway survey found poor levels of patient confidentiality, judgmental local health services, loneliness among gay people, a lack of social opportunities and support groups, a limited voice and a sense of a lack of visibility. In one LGBT study in the region, almost half the gay people who were contacted and spoken to reported that they had been assaulted as a result of their sexual orientation. I find that figure extraordinary. The LGBT centre in Brewery Street in Dumfries is now making great strides to remedy that situation, and history month will help to address the great fear and isolation felt by people who might well feel that they are the only gay person in their village or small town.
Also in the South of Scotland, libraries at Galashiels, Earlston, Eyemouth and Duns in the Scottish Borders have agreed to have history month exhibitions or to put on display resources that are available for uplift by library visitors. There will also be adverts inside buses and discussion forums across the region.
Throughout Scotland, trade unions, Government officials, religious groups, businesses, non-governmental organisations and arts venues are all coming together to take part in this event. The Scottish Youth Parliament will be conducting a debate on LGBT history month at its next meeting, and the National Galleries of Scotland will be hosting three LGBT guided tours with the art historian Matthew Wellard.
Eight Scottish police forces, in conjunction with the Gay Police Association, are taking part in the event, hosting awareness-raising and storytelling sessions. That is another sign of the huge amount of progress that our police forces have made in successfully shifting the focus in a generation—10 to 20 years—from policing formerly criminalised sexual minorities to engaging with LGBT communities in the same way that they engage with every other part of society.
It is hard to imagine that such a list could have existed even five or 10 years ago. That is a mark of the progress that has been made in a short time. As my colleague and others have said, there is still work to be done, and it is important that LGBT history month contributes to that work. I am proud and pleased to be a part of a Parliament that is also working to that end.
I congratulate Patrick Harvie on securing the debate, although I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it is shameful that a special month is needed to highlight both the historical persecution that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have faced and the achievements of individuals from those groups. It is wrong to have to compartmentalise different sections of society; I would rather call for respect and tolerance for all.
I have always tried to take people as I find them, rather than prejudging them by their labels. I was lucky enough to receive an enlightened education at school and from my very enlightened parents at home, which encouraged me to do that. Had I not done so, I know that I would have been a far poorer person.
I am very encouraged that Scotland is now becoming one of the areas of the United Kingdom that is leading the way in tolerance. Historically, that was not always so. In the past, Scotland was not a good place for minorities, and we are still not perfect now. All too often, people experience prejudice when they do not conform to what many consider to be normal. However, I think that it is perhaps unproductive to castigate and vilify those who behave in an intolerant way. They are simply being ignorant, however unjust their views might be. It is better, through education, to turn them into a decreasing minority. I hope that that is what is now happening.
As parliamentarians, we must take every opportunity to condemn intolerance. Tonight's debate will help to draw attention to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history month. I am sure that the many events planned for February will help to educate people about the important role that many LGBT people have played in history and the suffering that they have faced. They have suffered great hardship, especially under totalitarian regimes. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, homosexuals were sent to concentration camps alongside Jews, the disabled, the mentally ill, Roma, Jehovah's Witnesses, freemasons, social democrats, anarchists and other groups. In the Soviet Union, homosexuals and other so-called deviants were regularly sent to the gulags, from whence they rarely returned.
In addition to the persecution that the LGBT community has historically faced, people from that community who have made great achievements have not had that aspect of themselves properly recognised. It is only right that the whole person should be acknowledged when we celebrate their achievements. Personally, I am not entirely comfortable with labelling people as LGBT. I believe that a person's sexuality is only part of their identity and should not necessarily be the most important thing about them. There is also a problem with claiming LGBT identity for historical figures. For some historical figures, the issue is clear cut and well known, even outside the LGBT world. For others, the claim depends on the person's lack of a known partner. However, I can see that, if someone is having difficulty with coming to terms with their sexual or gender orientation, it might be of great help to be able to look to LGBT people who had achieved great things. Famous role models inspire confidence and pride.
LGBT history month aims to educate people about the different standing that LGBTs have historically had and to celebrate the lives of those LGBT individuals who have made a contribution to society. I sincerely hope that the month will lead to greater tolerance and understanding, especially among those who are disinclined to change entrenched views. Personally, I have recently seen a big change in the views of younger people. I hope that events such as LGBT history month will bring even greater tolerance to future generations in Scotland, the UK and throughout the rest of the world.
I congratulate Patrick Harvie on securing tonight's debate. National LGBT history month is important, because it at last celebrates the lives of a significant number of people who have traditionally remained hidden and disengaged from civic participation and who have often been treated with a shameless and unreasonable degree of dislike, distrust and fear.
We need to remember that many people are still bullied in our schools and attacked in our communities because of their sexual orientation. LGBT history month can only help, because of the breadth of activities that will take place. I thank Chris Ballance for describing the range of activities that will take place in the south of Scotland. It is very helpful indeed that events will be spread throughout the country. Those events will illustrate the energy, talent and spirit of LGBT people. The events will be far removed from the death and persecution that, throughout history, this vibrant community has suffered worldwide. During the Holocaust, lesbians were forced to wear the black triangle as a symbol of their perversion. Gay men had to wear the pink triangle as they awaited death or torture, but they still maintained a dignified sense of self. The Holocaust was horrific for many groups of people who did not fit the image of Aryan perfection. To some extent, those perceptions have continued to filter through the decades.
LGBT people can still remain apart from their communities. Recently, I spoke to a young man who had just left school and moved from a small community to the city of Glasgow to live and work, because he knew that when he came out there would be intolerable attitudes towards him in the community in which he lived. We still have a long way to go to educate our young people. As Patrick Harvie said in his opening speech, reminding them of history is the right way forward. We should not bury our heads in the sand and pretend that things did not happen; we should move forward, educate and hope that our young people and our communities improve their attitudes. The attitudes of many young people come from their home background. The more that we do to educate people and to ensure that events such as LGBT history month take place in our communities, the better we will serve LGBT people.
There are many positive images. Young LGBT people laugh when they see photographs of the complicated signs, such as handkerchiefs worn in a certain way and of a certain colour, that indicated that someone was gay. Such things are now gone, so there has been a vast improvement. In February, LGBT people will hold events such as a storytelling evening at Glasgow LGBT centre, where older community members will share their memories with younger people. It is essential that we remember and pass on the rich history that the community has struggled to own.
We must also remember that LGBT people can still be poor, still be afraid to engage with services, still suffer poor education, still be bullied and still think that they have no rights. They can suffer domestic abuse and are often forced to socialise in environments where alcohol and drugs are prevalent. The community's young people often fall through the net of generic services because they are afraid to be open about themselves. When that happens, they are sometimes left homeless, hungry, afraid and lacking in formal education, and they can easily fall victim to the sex industry. We must bear in mind that we still have a long way to go, but this kind of celebration moves us forward a great deal. I thank Patrick Harvie for bringing it to our attention.
I join colleagues in congratulating Patrick Harvie on securing this debate. Although I recognise the contributions that many organisations have made to LGBT history month and its associated activities and congratulate them on them, I single out for special mention LGBT Youth Scotland, which the Scottish Executive has commissioned to co-ordinate the event. That is testament to how much confidence Government has in the organisation. I share that confidence and declare an interest, as one of its patrons. I am proud to be so and believe that LGBT Youth Scotland is one of the most effective and professional youth organisations that I have ever come across.
I particularly like the concept of LGBT history month, because it enables us to take a step back to reflect on, recognise and celebrate the contributions that people have made. It is a hobby-horse of mine that we do not do that nearly enough. I am struck by how short our memories are, and feel that they are becoming ever shorter in the world in which we live. I ask members to consider the fact that the Parliament has existed for only eight years. How much have we forgotten about why things happened, why decisions were taken and who was behind ideas at their inception—not just in the Parliament but, crucially, outside it? How often have we forgotten—perhaps not consciously, but just because we have moved on—that decisions on legislation and policies that we are taking now have their roots many years ago either in the Parliament or before its establishment?
There are three reasons why it is important to remember. First, it is right for us to recognise the contributions that individuals make. It is important that when people work hard, especially in spheres where they attract much criticism, or worse, for pushing forward ideas and issues, we recognise what they have done. Secondly, our doing so encourages and motivates other people to follow in their footsteps and to build on what they have done. Thirdly, if we reflect, it helps us to understand better how change happens and, therefore, to be better at effecting change in the future. That is why I particularly applaud the emphasis of this initiative.
As others have said, we have come a long way and attitudes have changed greatly. I am struck by the way in which civil partnerships have been widely embraced in society. Even those of us who have been around issues to do with diversity and sexuality over the years have been pleasantly surprised by that. Similarly, I am particularly pleased that the first winner of the Scottish Executive's new diversity award was the LGBT health inclusion project that is run jointly by the Health Department and Stonewall Scotland. I do not believe that something like that could have happened a decade ago.
However, there is much still to do. The issue of hate crime has been mentioned, and the Executive still needs to consider ending the iniquity that exists in that area in relation to race and religion on the one hand and sexuality and disability on the other. Further, we must be vigilant to ensure that the principles and the approach that have been evident in today's debate are applied with regard to the on-going debate about adoption law.
There is much to celebrate, of course. The message to take from the approach that has been taken to LGBT history month is that, sometimes, we need to decode some of the techno-speak that is used in relation to these issues and turn it into human-speak. My mother and father would never have recognised the language of tolerance and diversity, but I am glad that they brought me up to believe that, although people are different, we are all Jock Tamson's bairns. If we apply that in our lives and if we bring up our children to believe in it, we will continue to contribute to an ever prouder and better future for our country and ensure that we have a Scotland that values, respects and celebrates the lives of all its people.
I thank Patrick Harvie for bringing the motion for debate.
In 1985, when I started as a guidance teacher—I continued being a modern studies teacher, but had a part-time role as a guidance teacher—one of the first things that was drawn to my attention was section 28 because, of course, guidance classes discuss issues such as citizenship, sexuality and health. I am proud of the fact that I cheerfully ignored the strictures of section 28 throughout my time as a guidance teacher.
We have heard good, thoughtful and educative speeches this evening. In my contribution to the LGBT history month information pack, I said:
"LGBT History month is a most welcome development.
It is much easier to know were you are going if you know where you have been—that is true of all history, and because change has come so rapidly, this is particularly true of the history of LGBT issues."
We know how bad things have been in the past and how much better they are now. We also know how much further we need to move.
During the debate around the Scottish Parliament's intentions with regard to section 28, members received hundreds and hundreds of vituperative letters and e-mails, which were dripping with bile and hate. That drew to our attention the fact that there is in Scotland an unconscionable reservoir of deep prejudice that we must do everything we can to lessen. Prejudice will always be with human beings but, because of the depth and quantity of prejudice that was displayed at that time, I was not surprised earlier when we heard that 20 per cent of people in Scotland show some hatred and distrust of gay people. Receiving those letters was a pretty awful experience but, like everyone else in the chamber, I am glad that the Scottish Parliament took the lead in getting rid of section 28.
Scrolling forward a little, I remember clearly the discussions that took place in 2002. To pick up on what Susan Deacon said, there should be praise where praise is due—the Equality Network has given incredible support to all MSPs who progress LGBT issues. I was very sad that after protracted negotiations with Jim Wallace and the Executive, we did not manage to get the Executive to accept that, along with the other five groups that are recognised in European law as regularly suffering from discrimination at work and who are therefore protected under European law against such discrimination, LGBT people should receive equal treatment when it comes to hate crime. We must revisit that in the next session of Parliament.
The vision of LGBT Youth Scotland is that
"Every LGBT young person will be included in the life of Scotland
Every LGBT young person will enjoy a safe and supportive upbringing
Every LGBT young person will grow up happy and healthy
Every LGBT young person will be able to reach their full potential".
Those rights still have to be asked for, even though every young person in this country should have them. Our LGBT youth must be accorded all those rights and access to a healthy and happy future.
Many wonderful events have been arranged to celebrate LGBT history month, including concerts, visits, musical events and plays. I know from experience that LGBT young people know how to enjoy themselves. February will be a month in which they celebrate their new-found confidence in a Scottish society that is becoming a much better place for everyone to live in from the point of view of equalities.
I thank Patrick Harvie for securing the debate and I thank everyone who has spoken in it.
I begin, as other members have done, by congratulating Patrick Harvie on bringing the issue to Parliament for debate. It is a debate that acknowledges the diversity that exists in Scotland and which celebrates the benefits of that diversity. I am delighted that people feel that Parliament is making progress on LGBT issues.
From its outset, the Scottish Parliament has been concerned with promoting equal opportunities. The Scotland Act 1998 explicitly defines equal opportunities as including sexual orientation. As an Executive, we are committed to promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as part of our wider work on mainstreaming equality and promoting equal opportunities.
Over the past few years, the Scottish Parliament has passed significant legislation that promotes equality. An example of that is the provision in Scots law that acknowledges same-sex couples. Along with Executive agencies and partners in health and local government, we have taken action to change how our public services are delivered, to ensure that people can access those services without experiencing discrimination or prejudice on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
We understand that another of the tasks that are before us is to positively influence change in wider social attitudes towards people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The 2002 Scottish social attitudes survey showed that although people acknowledge that there is a great deal of prejudice against lesbians and gay men, there is reluctance to say that something should be done about it. As several members have said, that needs to be addressed.
Alongside legislation, we need to consider other ways of tackling prejudice. Last year Malcolm Chisholm hosted a seminar for LGBT organisations so that the Executive could hear directly from those communities about their experiences and ask what they thought needed to be done to tackle prejudice. We listened to what was said and have taken action. A group of LGBT organisations is now working with us to develop an action plan for tackling prejudice and discrimination. It is hoped that the working group will deliver its action plan towards the end of the year.
The needs of LGBT young people, and other young people who find themselves affected by these issues, need to be addressed. Where homophobia occurs in our schools, it must be tackled. Any form of bullying, including homophobic bullying, is completely unacceptable. We commissioned LGBT Youth Scotland—which has been mentioned in the debate—in partnership with the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland to carry out research on how schools deal with homophobic incidents. We know from the research that, although the majority of homophobic incidents are challenged, teachers would welcome supportive materials that would increase their confidence and awareness levels in this area. We are looking to see how such materials can be supplied.
Cultural issues have also been mentioned in the debate. It is fair to pay tribute to the tremendous contribution that LGBT people have made to the cultural life of Scotland, which is already recognised in festivals such as Glasgay. A vigorous and diverse cultural life is at the core of the Executive's aspirations for Scotland. We intend that everyone should have equality of opportunity in accessing and participating in Scotland's rich and diverse cultural landscape.
The Executive has announced its support for a number of pathfinder projects that focus on the needs of different underrepresented and marginalised groups. In particular, it is hoped that community groups that currently face barriers to participation in cultural activity will be encouraged to experience the benefits of culture through the pathfinder projects. In turn, we hope that the learning from those projects will be used to inform the ways in which entitlements are delivered across Scotland. LGBT communities are included in the pathfinder programme along with other underrepresented groups—disabled people, minority ethnic communities, older people, people who live in areas of multiple deprivation and people in peripheral communities.
LGBT history month provides an opportunity to raise awareness of LGBT issues generally and to impact positively on social attitudes. I remind members of the impact that Sheila Rowbotham's seminal work, "Hidden from History: 300 Years of Women's Oppression and the Fight Against It", had on the development of the feminist movement. The recovery of the history of the LGBT community is an important dimension in building awareness more generally. That point has certainly been made positively in the debate.
My predecessors as Minister for Communities agreed to fund LGBT Youth Scotland to develop materials that are aimed at helping people to understand better the global, national and local histories of LGBT communities. The project, which is set against contemporary Scottish culture, will also raise awareness locally and nationally, and contribute positively to LGBT communities and wider society. I am delighted that a significant programme of events and activities is taking place this year—there will be around 150 across Scotland. I congratulate LGBT Youth Scotland on its work on delivering this programme. I hope that its LGBT programming will have the same kind of impact that feminism had around 20 years ago in terms of recovering a history and bringing to the fore an explosion of different kinds of activities.
The Executive's support for LGBT history month will continue next year and beyond. I look forward to further progress on LGBT equality in the months and years ahead. I hope that everyone in the Parliament will participate in taking forward that agenda.
Meeting closed at 17:53.