LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH

Lower Sixth Form pupils Ben and Freddie delivered a fantastic lunchtime talk on how the AIDS epidemic affected visual artists and their art.

Particularly moving was Keith Haring’s work ‘Unfinished Painting’ (1989), his last work before he died of AIDS related complications aged 31.

Mr Olivas Ramos gave an entertaining talk entitled Of Little Monsters and Lambs: Gay Men and Diva-Worshipping in which he explored the phenomenon of gay men idolising female pop artists such as Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Lady Gaga. There are many people who might be considered ‘gay icons’, but the pop ‘diva’ is a particular iteration which embraces powerful voices, camp costume and disco dance pop. Mr Olivas Ramos considered why this might be, and also explored how this might be changing amongst queer members of Gen Z (people born between 1997–2012).

Upper Sixth Form pupil Freddie spoke about the changing policies and legislation surrounding LGBT+ rights, noting that homosexuality was only decriminalised in the USA in 2003, and remains illegal in 64 countries.

He also noted however that there has been great progress, with 2019 marking the ‘gayest’ year in UK Government, with 45 MP's identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual.