LGBTQ+ Month

09 February 2023

Celebrating acceptance

To introduce this week’s blog and kickstart LGBTQ+ History Month, IT Support Officer Shannon Hickton, shares her personal story and the importance of acceptance.

“We’ve all had that relative that says: ‘It’s a phase’. The person who dismisses something which you feel is integral to who you are.”

By the time I was leaving secondary school, I knew within myself that I was a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and during the same year, I’d met my first girlfriend. I wanted to tell everyone that I was dating, but hearing the horror stories of how people are treated by their family, friends, even some teachers, once they came out had made me apprehensive about telling anyone.

We’ve all had that relative who says: “It’s a phase”. The person who dismisses something which you feel is integral to who you are, and I was scared to find out my parents’ reactions, as they could’ve been similar, or much worse, so I kept it to myself.

Three months into my relationship, my mum confronted me about why I wasn’t at home much and why I was hanging out with this girl, and one day when I came home from school, she just point-blank asked me, “Are you two dating?” and I said ‘Yes”, and that was that. I was fortunate enough to be embraced by my parents when I finally came out to them. Although, not everyone is accepted the way I have been.

Almost a quarter of young people who find themselves homeless are LGBTQ+. For the young people who finally build up the confidence to come out to their families—only to be rejected—I imagine it is difficult to learn to accept that part of yourself or trust others again for fear of further rejection.

I feel luckier than most, as there are so many people who get disowned, kicked out of their family home and find themselves homeless or relying on friends or services to support them, simply because of their sexuality. Within P3 services, we see the victims of discrimination every day, and organisations like P3 are close to my heart because without my parents and friends accepting me, that could’ve been me accessing P3’s support.

One in five LGBTQ+ people last year experienced hate crimes and acts of violence towards them because of their identity, and in the UK, we still have a lot of stigma to overcome, but we are making important changes. In 2022, Jake Daniels became the first male professional footballer in the UK to publicly come out as a gay man since Justin Fashanu in 1990. Also, Scotland passed a Gender Recognition Reform Bill which meant that trans people could self-identify after six months of living in their gender identity (instead of two years) without the need of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and the age was lowered from 18 to 16.

As a community, we are seeing positive changes every day and while the climb may be steep and difficult, these events sow the seeds of future change in our society, and acceptance is really the first step to LGBTQ+ inclusivity. I personally feel that more social norms and traditions must be reassessed and maybe even broken so that the LGBTQ+ community can live our lives as the people we truly are.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read today’s blog. I hope you find Lily Parr’s story as inspirational as I do.

Best wishes,

Shannon

09 February 2023

Football's not for girls

Lily Parr: A Pioneer

“A kick like a mule.”

“Best natural timer of a football I have ever seen.”

“Scores goals from extraordinary angles with a left-foot cross drive, which nearly breaks the net.”

Bobby Charlton? Jimmy Greaves? Bobby Moore?

In fact, these comments are about Lilian ‘Lily’ Parr – a professional English female footballer famous for her powerful kick, prolific goal-scoring and resolute refusal to do as she was told. Born in Merseyside in 1905, Lily insisted on doing everything she wasn’t supposed to: play football, excel at it, and have relationships with women.

The fourth of seven children, Lily had the support of her older brothers, who taught her skills in football and rugby. She initially played for her local team, St Helens Ladies, before being spotted and taken on to the prestigious Dick, Kerr’s Ladies during the First World War (the name of the munitions factory where most of the women on the team worked was called Dick, Kerr & Co).

While on this team she scored 986 goals, including 43 in her first season when she was just 14. She also formed a relationship with her teammate, midfielder Alice Woods.

By 1921, well over a million people had watched Dick, Kerr’s Ladies play 123 games and the team had raised a lot of money for charity. It was the most famous team in the early days of women’s football. Lily herself was often in the media for her skill.

But in December 1921, the Football Association (FA) banned women from playing on its grounds. “Complaints have been made as to football being played by women,” it said in a statement. “The Council feel impelled to express their strong opinion that the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” The ban remained in place until 1971.

Lily and other women continued to play on village greens and other places not under FA control, but the ban destroyed a lot of support for women’s football and effectively made it impossible to play professionally. Dick, Kerr’s Ladies toured North America, but were banned again in Canada.

Still, Lily and her teammates refused to be defeated and continued to tour and play where they could, even into the 1930s. In total, Lily’s career spanned 30 years and she was still playing and welcoming new players in 1951.

Lily trained as a nurse and worked in Whittingham Mental Hospital where she met her long-term partner Mary. The couple lived together in Preston, completely open about their sexuality and love for each other, until Lily died aged 73 in 1978 of breast cancer.

Standing at 5’ 10” tall, Lily was known for her large appetite, fondness for Woodbine cigarettes and the sheer strength which gave her her famous “kick like a mule”. In 2002 she was the only woman to be made an inaugural inductee of the National Football Museum’s English Football Hall of Fame. She was also honoured with the Lily Parr Exhibition Trophy, which was played from 2007 to 2009 between LGBT football teams from England, France and the USA.

In conclusion, football is definitely for girls, too! ⚽

09 February 2023

Children's Mental Health Week

This week we celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week.

The theme of this year’s awareness week is ‘Let’s Connect’, where schools and families explore ways to get children talking about things that matter to them and connect with their loved ones.

To raise awareness of children’s mental health, the staff at Head Office went on a wellbeing walk to the Bennerley Viaduct as an opportunity to get talking and to promote awareness. P3 services across the country also put on events for the people we work alongside and presented ‘Talking Tree’ displays for our young people.