What do we mean by ‘inclusion’?
Being ‘excluded’, being ‘not included’ and ‘being included’ are all different experiences which have a range of impact on people and their well-being.
Being deliberately excluded – organisations which overtly say that it is not OK to be LGBT+, which discriminate against people because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
There was one negative comment chucked out. I can’t remember the exact nature of it, something like “oh she thought I was a lesbian,” and the rest of the group laughed. That was by another group participant, and I just thought “mmm…”.
Being not included – can occur when people have not even thought about LGBT+ people existing, or do not carry a thought through, so we can look on websites and in organisational literature and not see ourselves. The assumption is always of a heterosexual, binary world.
I wouldn’t come out because they’re all straight women with their grandchildren, you know? They talk about grandchildren, their husbands, the cruises they’ve been on. There’s nothing I relate to really.
Being included – is what we are aiming for, when we can actually see ourselves and LGBT+ lives are ‘usualised’ which can have a hugely positive impact on our well-being.
I’ve done some art classes and things like that which were lovely, actually, very inclusive. That was a college group, but it was for women. I think that they were trained in being inclusive. I never felt like I had to hide any part of myself or feel like I didn’t belong. And in that group, it was 90% heterosexual and a couple of us who weren’t and that was just fine.
