A gay history month could be introduced in schools in order to promote understanding of the past challenges that faced homosexual men and lesbians, Jeremy Corbyn has suggested.
The Labour leader said that the national curriculum should be updated to reflect the battle for gay rights and the contribution that LGBT historical figures have made to society.
Addressing the Pink News awards in London on Wednesday, Mr Corbyn said that pupils were now taught about the fight for racial justice and the roles played by Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Rosa Parks in the US. He demanded the same teaching about gay history.
Vowing that Labour would “actively update” the curriculum, he said: “Imagine this then: embedded into the heart of the school curriculum our kids learning about the contribution of mathematician Alan Turing, the man whose brilliance did so much to bring the Second World War to an end.
“Imagine telling a class of children that one of the most brilliant astronauts of our age, Sally Ride, a woman who has been catapulted into space at thousands of miles per hour, also happened to be a lesbian.”
He added: “Or for the next generation of aspiring Olympiads who is a better role model than Tom Daley. And for those kids looking for a career in journalism, what about [the BBC presenter] Evan Davis as an inspiration?”
Asked if schools would have a gay history month modelled on Black History Month, Mr Corbyn said: “There could be that, or there could be part of the core curriculum to understand the change in law, the way in which we have changed homosexual law from the illegality of homosexual acts until the 1960s, when the original homosexual law reform came in. Then through to the period when same-sex marriage was agreed by parliament two years ago.”
He told the Press Association: “I want it to become part of the norm of discussion in schools . . . To say, ‘Well look, Oscar Wilde was a gay man, Oscar Wilde wrote great poetry, great literature, and suffered the most appalling treatment.’ As did Alan Turing, who was chemically castrated, which is unbelievable in this day and age.”
Mr Corbyn added: “So, bring forward those figures as the heroes they were of the time, and help to bring forward an atmosphere of people respecting each others sexuality.”
Reflecting on whether such proposals could elicit criticism from some quarters, he said: “It might well, but then I do remember a time when there was great controversy over all kinds of legislation that has now become the norm in our lives.”
The Ministry of Justice said this month that it would pardon gay men who had been convicted for offences that have since been abolished, but only posthumously. It said that gay men with convictions who were still living could apply for their criminal record to be wiped clean.
The Labour leader said yesterday that he would go further than the proposed pardons if he became prime minister and would issue a formal apology to all gay men who were convicted under restrictive sex laws that have since been scrapped. He endorsed the call by Stonewall, the gay rights group, for an apology to men convicted under outdated sex laws. “I agree with Stonewall on this, the pardon is important from the legal point of view, but I think the apology has to be given. I think an apology is well in order,” he said.
Asked if he would issue an apology if he became prime minister, Mr Corbyn said: “Yes indeed, many have done the same thing over those alleged deserters in the First World War. I think we should be able to face up to history.”
He praised David Cameron for winning the Pink News “ally of the year” award for introducing same-sex marriage while in No 10.
