‘Let’s ensure LGBTQ+ youth never feel scared or alone at school’
Just Like Us ambassador Emily Johnson stresses the importance of inclusive school environments for LGBTQIA+ youth. WORDS BY EMILY JOHNSON “All I want for Christmas is LGBTQIA+ inclusive education” is not something I wrote on my Christmas list as a teenager.
But it was a thought that consistently popped into my head during the six years I was in high school. Two years after leaving school, it still does.
I went to a small, rural high school outside of Edinburgh, where homophobia was more common than any discussion of LGBTQIA+ identities.
I remember when someone in my year came out as a lesbian, and her experience was challenging to say the least. This created a lonely and isolating environment, and even though I didn’t know I was LGBTQIA+ until I was 16, I still felt it.
