Paul Patrick
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
teacher and leading lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) rights activist. He was openly
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
gay and focused on homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
in the public and voluntary sectors, particularly in the education system.
Early life
Patrick attended South Shields Grammar School but moved to BurnleyBurnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
at the age of fifteen and attended Burnley Grammar before going to Phillipa Fawcett College, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(a college of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
) where he studied English and drama.
Career
He came out in 1969 and went on to become a teacher in 1972 at the Roger Manwood School, LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
. He became Head of Drama and a member of the teachers’ advisory panel for Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
Young People’s Theatre in Education Company and worked with the teachers and advisors who produced the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...
’s “Drama Bulletin.”
In 1976, he co-founded the Lewisham Association for Multicultural Education. In 1983, he became the Equal opportunities Officer for the school he had just helped into amalgamation as a member of the Crofton School Advisory Team. While continuing to teach English and Drama, he became the co-ordinator for a project bringing adults with learning disabilities into the school to use the facilities and work with pupils.
In May 1996, he took some time out to concentrate on writing and his training work and co-founded Chrysalis, a training collective with his close friend and colleague, Sue Sanders
Sue Sanders
Sue Sanders is, as an "out and proud" lesbian, a British LGBT rights activist who has specialized in challenging oppression in the public and voluntary sectors for over thirty years....
.
In 1997 he joined the staff of Accrington and Rossendale College, working first in their Student Services Department and later moving on to full-time lectureship. In September 1999 he joined their Performing Arts Team to work full time teaching BTEC Foundation, BTEC National and HND Performing Arts. He also directed several plays including an education piece on homophobic bullying which toured local schools and was performed at teachers’ conferences. He then moved to Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School where he taught for three years, leaving after a period of illness.
He also worked as a consultant to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
In 2006 he taught at Ribblesdale High School Clitheroe where he used to teach drama. In 2007 he founded the Rossendale Players Youth Theatre at the Millennium Theatre in Waterfoot, Rossendale.
Activism
In 1974, Paul Patrick co-founded the Gay Teachers’ Group, and was its secretary until 1982. He was the first teacher in the UK to come out to parents and pupils and retain their job, and went on to be promoted. He then became the first single gay man to be allowed to foster a young heterosexual man, Roger Waters, one of his pupils.In his work, he addressed the International Conference of Teachers of English, been the UK representative at an international conference held in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
on the development of lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and gay issues in the curriculum, and been a member of the National Union of Teachers
National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...
.
In 2002 he became the Co-chair of Schools Out together with Sue Sanders. He also became the Equal Opportunities Officer of the National Union of Teachers
National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...
- Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
Division and a member of the NUT’s LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
Working Party.
Since 2004, he was a member of the Steering Group of LGBT History Month (UK) for which, together with a team of teachers, he created and vetted lessons and assembly suggestions. He also toured the country promoting LGBT History Month to a wide range of groups and organisations.
Public appearances
As well as being a teacher, Paul Patrick wrote on a range of issues and sub-edited others' work. His articles were published in many prestigious publications including Gay NewsGay News
Gay News was a pioneering fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Times Educational Supplement
Times Educational Supplement
The Times Educational Supplement is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny.The TES...
, The Teacher, the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
, Tretham Books and Multilingual Matters
. He also worked on several educational video programmes.
He regularly appeared in the national press, on TV and radio programmes dealing with education, social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
and LGBT issues and fulfilled many public speaking engagements. He lectured on PGCE
PGCE
PGCE can stand for:* Postgraduate Certificate in Education, an English, Welsh and Northern Irish teacher-training qualification that includes master's credits...
and M Ed courses at Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
and the Institute of Education
Institute of Education
The Institute of Education is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom specialised in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest education research body in the United Kingdom, with...
.
In May 2002, he nominated himself to appear in the list being compiled by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
of the people who have done most to shape Britain during the Queen's reign. His reasons for it being that he too, [had] been a queen for 50 years, although under somewhat less privileged circumstances. As Britain's first openly gay teacher not to be fired or moved to a 'safe' position and as a campaigner for lesbian, gay and bisexual equality for more than 30 years, I feel I have contributed a lot more to Britain than that other Queen has. I am also more attractive and a lot more fun!
Death
Paul Patrick died on 22 May 2008 after a long battle with a chronic lung condition. He was working on Biting the hand that feeds me!, his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
.
External links
- A date with hate, The Observer, 27 October 2002
- Pupils join in gay history month, BBC News, 21 January 2005
- Interview on the Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, 21 January 2005 (audio file)
- Interview, Rainbow Network, 1 February 2006
- Paul Patrick's Diary for LGBT History Month 2006
- Sir Ian welcomes gay history show, The Burnley Citizen, 19 February 2007
- Foster Teacher - Home Truths, BBC Radio4 website
- Obituary, UK Gay News
- Obituary, The Guardian
- Obituary, LGBT History Month
- Obituary, The Herald
- Last Word, BBC Radio 4