Diversity Role Models

Diversity Role Models is the sole beneficiary of all profits made by the publisher through sales ‘Love Me As I Am – Gay men reflect on their lives’.

We couldn’t have chosen a better charity to work with. Through their much valued work, Diversity Role Models actively seeks to prevent homophobic bullying in United Kingdom schools. Their aim is to stop bullying before it happens by educating all young people about differences in sexuality and gender identity.

In schools where homophobic bullying is tackled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students are 60% less likely to be bullied. This environment allows young people to feel safe and focus on learning. It also prepares all students for a working environment in which homophobia and transphobia are not tolerated and diversity is respected.

The world is changing fast around us and much as the LGBT community has moved forward in leaps and bounds in the past decade, the fact remains that homophobic bullying is a harsh reality many young gay people have to cope with and it’s devastating effects often have fatal consequences. It’s no secret that suicides among gay teenagers are escalating. This a topic not even worthy of any debate. The answer is simple: It has to stop.

The message that it’s OK to be different is one of the most important messages to get across to young adults. Not being accepted and being shamed for who we naturally are can have lasting negative effects on gay people throughout the rest of our lives… This theme of invalidation is very prominent in almost all of the stories and letters in ‘Love Me As I Am’. Anyone who reads ‘Love Me As I Am’ will certainly agree that educating young people to accept themselves and others with all their differences, just the way they are, is imperative in creating a much more wholesome future for the next generation of LGBT people.

To find out more about the important work Diversity Role Models does, click this link.