Work it Out

Work it Out is a gay youth group that is run by Brook in Wirral.  A couple of weeks ago they held a conference organised by the young people to address homophobia.  I was unable to go but lucky enough to be sent copies of the young people's presentations.  

Some of the young people's stories were frighteningly unacceptable - tales of bullying, hurt and being 'disowned', but that was the side that they did not have control over - they were also tales of resilience, of self belief and of confident optimism for the future.

The role that individual staff and the support of peers had played through the Work it Out group was evident and when i finished reading the stories i felt immensely proud of the work that has taken place and determined to find ways to share the learning so other young people in other places that Brook Centres are also get the chance to 'Work it Out'.

Their website www.workitoutatbrook.org.uk

my week of name calling and violence

Having watched panorama about bullying this week I have just been called a 'batty boy' by two lads in the local Sainsburys!  It took me a while to work out why they were chuntering on, and then I realised they were talking about my footwear.   Apparently the shoes I was wearing can determine my sexual orientation.  

I was also at the train station yesterday and I could hear a woman screaming.  She was being held by a man, who I assume was her partner and he wouldn't let her go.  In a brilliant show of human solidarity the two hundred or so people who could also hear it, put their heads down and looked the other way.   I eventually found a community police officer by which time they had moved on.  It is always horrible to witness violence, and particularly when it is clearly within a domestic relationship.  I don't think I could have helped by intervening myself - it would probably have made the situation worse and at the same time I wish I could have found security or the police sooner.  I hope she is ok.