Second draft of Wayne's interview

1. Transcript of interview with Wayne Dawson
Jack: So if youcan firstjusttell me yourname.
Wayne: My name isWayne
Jack: So I’minterestedinfindingoutwhenyoustartedthe LGBTQ+ group
Wayne: So I didn’tactuallystartthe LGBTQ+ group.The groupwas alreadyestablishedby
someone calledHaleyMcQueen.Andshe’dbeenrunningthe LGBTQ+group fora
numberof yearsand she had to stepdownlastyear andthiswas whilstIwasdoing
my teachertrainingatYork College,andbecause of the workthatI had startedto do
withIngridwhoworkswithstudentsacrosscollege withanumberof differentthings
on the extra-curricularclubsandthe equalityanddiversityetc..,she specifically
askedme because she wasaware of the workI’ve done inthe LGBT communityin
York, soI took overfromHayley McQueenlastyear,and it’skindof gone from there
and theyaskedme to continue thisyear.
Jack: Great, Ok,InterestingOk.Whydidyoudecide to,orwhydid York College decide to
setup a LGBT group?
Wayne: I wouldsaybecause it’ssomethingthatisneededwithinthe college.Statistically
there are, I think,it’ssomethingbetween10-15percentLGBTQ+ people,Idon’t
knowthe exactnumbers,thatwouldbe interestingtofindout,maybe more.It’s
somethingthatpeople can’tactuallyfindoutofficially because some peoplearen’t
out some people don’tlike totalkaboutitetc. But it’s,Iwouldsay, for me
personally aswell there isacommunityanda culture tothe LGBT community,and
actuallyhavinga space where studentscanengage withthat,andthat culture and
talkabout LGBT issues.Andit’salsoasafe space for people tocome andtalk about
thingsthat they’re maybe goingthrough,andalsoaspace where theycanlookif
theywanthelpwithanyissuesorsignpostingtoadditional places.It’salsoaspace
where theycango, it’ssomethingthat’sreallyimportanttothe students.ObviouslyI
wasn’tthere whenitwassetup, but it’ssomethingthatis veryimportantfor
LGBTQ+ studentsandlikewise if it’simportanttothe studentsit’simportanttothe
college Iwouldsay.
Jack: So howdidthe ideafor the group come about?
Wayne: AgainI’mnot entirelysure,the exactinsandoutsof it,but for me it stemsfrom a
need. Sothere are LGBT studentsandtheyneeda safe space because dependingon
howlongit’sbeengoingthere’sstill alotof stigmaaroundthe community,still
thingsthat happenregardinghate crime,still things, still negativeattitudestowards
the LGBT communityandit’saboutprovidingthatspace for people togo,have a
safe space to talkto other people aboutthemthings, andmeetotherpeople like
them,andin some ways. Forinstance we have a visitornextweek Ithinkitis,a
weektoday,theyare cominginto talkabout hate crime.It’sthe youthcommission
NorthYorkshire CountyPolice andthey’re justlookingatwaystheycan tackle hate
crime withinthe community.Soit’saboutpromotingpositivevisibilityandkindof
shiftingperceptionswithinthe community aswell isanotherwayof lookingatitas

2. well. Butthenforsome otherstudentsit’sanotherplace forthemtocome andmeet
otherstudentslike them. Sothere’sanumberof differentreasonsIwouldsay.
Jack: Good,that’s reallyinteresting.SodoyouthinkYork has a lotof discriminationanda
lotof hate towardsthe LGBT community?
Wayne: I wouldsaythat York isa verygoodplace for LGBT people butthingsstillhappen,
theyare still some people withacertain tradition,traditional viewsmaybe fora
numberof differentreasons. Youdon’toftenhearaboutitin York butit just
depends,Imeanif youlookonthe newsandthingsthere’sstill stuffinEngland
where thingsare still happening,if youlookdownin, quite recentlyinLondonIthink
it wasthere wasa lesbiancouple whoexperiencedsomehate crime,Ithinkitwas
on a bus,that was quite recent.Forme personallyIthinkthe sexualityismuchmore
acceptednowadaysandpeople understandthatbutissuesrelatedtogenderpeople
findthatdifficulttounderstand. Ithinkif youlookbackhistoricallythe 1980s that
was a real well,goevenfurtherbackwhenthe Stonewall riotsstarted,the LGBT
community,thatwaswhenthe LGBT civil rightsmovementstarted,butthenPeople
oftensaythat the fightfor gender,transgender,none-binarypeople,acceptance
and equality,we are now where sexualitywasinthe 1980s, the waythat people
treat gaypeople,lesbiansandbisexual people.Butthat’swhywe have certain,
whichI thinkwe’ll enduptalkingaboutlater,butthat’swhywe have certain
charities, we have LGBT groupswe have safe spaces,andit’simportantto continue
to educate people andpromote positivevisibility sothatwe can keepmoving
forward.But there isa lotof love outthere,there isa lotof supportandpeople do
celebrate the LGBT communitybecause it’ssuchanimportantpartof the general
widersocietyaswell andthere are a lotof people whodoappreciate thataswell
and that’swhat we have to rememberthatitisn’tall badbut that still existsandwe
can’t forgetaboutthat and we needtokeeppromotingthatpositive visibilityand
educatingpeople
Jack: Thank you. So doesthe grouphave lotsof gay, LGBTQ+ people go?
Wayne: Yes,interestingly,sowhenIstartedlastyear,andI thinkpart of that was the shiftin
the personwhowas runningit,andthere was a break,whenIstartedrunningitwe
had about6 or 7 people,butIhadbeentoldpreviouslysome yearsthey’ve hadup
to 40 people,and,butIthinkit waskindof thatshiftlastyear whichimpactedon
that because theyhada lot of people atthe start. Thisyearin our firstweeklast
weekwe had29 people whichwas,the classroomwasfull.Imean,itwasbrilliant.
So yeahitis verypopularandinterestinglythe sign-upsthisyearforthe clubs,
because Iwas there onthe fresher’s,itwasthe mostpopulargroup!Andforme that
sendsa reallystrongmessage,againwhatIwas talkingaboutearlier,showingthe
needforthe group,showingthatthere are LGBTQ+ people,andIthinkjustshowing
that actuallywe existandwe wantto celebrate whowe are because it’sabig part of
our identity.
Jack: Great, that’sreallygood.Ok,sohas the group got anyDeaf people init?
Wayne: We donot no.

3. Jack: Ok So If,erwouldyouwelcome Deaf peopleintothatgroupas well?
Wayne: Absolutely.Imeanforus andfor me personallythe LGBTcommunityisall about
inclusivityandLGBTQ+ people come fromall walksof life,all background,Imean
interestinglythereare afew people,soIworkwithaccessible artsandmediaandI
co-leada singingandsigningchoirandthere are a couple of LGBT people inthat
groupand theywant to come alongto the LGBT choirthat I run in York.At the
momentwe are changingthe rooms,the practical side of that isactuallywe run at
York St John(university) musicblockbutthe roomsare not accessible,we are onthe
firstfloorandthere isn’ta lift!I’mnotentirelysure how theycanrun a degree
course there withoutitbeingaccessible,nutthatwasthe room we were given and
whenwe getanotherroom we’ll make sure itsaccessible toeveryone sotheyare
welcome andwe wouldlike themtocome actually,soagainthatwas like aside
pointto justmentionthatthe LGBT communityfrommyperspectiveisbeing
inclusive of everyoneandthat’sa reallyimportantpartof it,and I thinkas well,we
can’t,as a communitypushandfightforacceptance and inclusivityif we’re not
inclusive ourselves, andthat’sa reallyimportantthing.Youdofindthatin the LGBT
communityyoucan findinternalisedhomophobia,there are alot of negative views
withinthe community,well Iwouldn’tsayalot butthat you dofindit…gaypeople
whohave negative viewsof bisexual people,gaypeoplewhodon’tunderstandor
howhave,have negative viewsof maybe transpeople andthat’s,that’ssomething
that I reallystruggle with,because forme Ithink if you’re part of the communityand
youalso wantto be acceptedyou shouldn’tthenbe shuttingoff otherpartsof the
communitythinkingthatwell actuallyit’sjustaboutyoubecause itisn’t,it’sabout
everybody inclusive of everyone,soIwouldsayabsolutely.Thatwasa longwinded
wayof sayingyes!I doapologise.
Jack: That’s fine
Wayne: But yeahabsolutely,more thanwelcome,more thanwelcome
Jack: So are some people nervousaboutjoiningthe groupinitially?
Wayne: Maybe,I meanI didnotice at the fresher’sfairsome people were kindof wantingto
ask aboutthe LGBT group butmaybe were a little bitreservedpotentially butthen
the secondthat theymentioneditandI thinkithelpedthatI wasthere and I runit
so the secondthat theysaid‘ohwhat’sLGBT groupabout?’ Oh well Irun LGBT group
and thisiswhat we do etc…theywere much more confident,sopotentiallymaybe
and I knowthere were some studentslastyearwhowere partof LGBT groupbut
theydidn’twantpeople toknow,soforinstance we,notto go intodetailsof any
specificperson,butwe hadsomeone whowastranswhointhe LGBT group they
identifiedwithadifferentname andpronounbutoutside of LGBT grouptheywere
knownto theirpeersaswhotheyintroducedthemselves whentheystartedthe
course,butobviouslyinLGBT grouptheywere theirauthenticself. Theywere going
ontouniversitytheywere planningonwhentheyintroduce themselvestotheirnew
cohort at universitytheywould…
(The footage stopsabruptly)