On friday I hopped on the train bound for london , on my way to head to my hotel. Why was I headed to london you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. You probably know or have read at some point that I volunteer for Stonewall quite often whenever they have an event which they need youth volunteers at or perhaps if I am recieving an award or doing some training.
This time it was the Stonewall Youth Event which is basically a day of training for young people who want to know more about LGBT issues. The day involved a Q and A panel in the morning with some fabulously interesting LGBT guest speakers, this was a fab oppertunity to post a question to some professionals who are quite well known in their feild and out of the closet, it was lovely learning how far we have come just to have the event thanks to Stonewall.
We then went onto the workshops, there were two seperated by lunch and an active theatre-based workshop by the insatiable Rikki Beadle Blair who also directed and starred in the educational film 'FIT' (which if you haven't seen, I suggest you do so.)
Marie (my volunteering companion for the day) and I were in 'Know your rights' in the morning which is all about LGBT hate crime and reporting it, and about your rights as an LGBT consumer of things such as nhs services and schools and what not. We also had a lovely chat with a policeman who went a little through the procedure of hate crime and asured us that event thought it may SEEM like they do nothing about these things, they apparently DO take these claims seriously.
The last workshop was on coming out where we had a lovely chat in a seminar type thing about the issues surrounding coming out, what might make it easier or harder and and the results of how those issues may effect you coming out. I found this workshop perticularly interesting because I actually got to sit for with other LGBT young people about their experiences in coming out and just mixing things up and finding out how people took the amazingly brave step of coming out of the closet. I spoke to a girl called Maha who spoke an amazing seven languages, and found it much easier coming out over here in england than in her home country of morroco, lovely!
Right now I am sat on the train back to Wigan with another of the young volunteers and someone who took part in the event on the day, and I can say without a doubt although I am tired and achy, I feel incredibly enlightened, fulfilled and satisfied that I have done something good this weekend.
Sounds like you had a good time. xx
ReplyDeleteAntony xx