■ Paul Patrick

Paul Patrick, co-chair of Schools Out and LGBT History Month died early on Thursday May 22 in hospital, after a battle against a chronic lung condition, at the age of 58.

Paul came out as a gay man in 1969, and then went on to embark on a teaching career in Lewisham. But he was not satisfied with merely spending his entire professional life out of the closet at a time when gay and lesbian teachers were statutorily sacked if discovered; for he was out and proud and angry. In 1974, Paul helped found the London Gay Teachers Group when he was teaching English and Drama.

It’s safe to say that Paul was at the radical end of the equal opportunities campaign. His unswerving commitment to equality was always expressed with passion and, if people appeared homophobic or transphobic, he made no concessions to their sensibilities. He was a life-long trade unionist and a member of the National Union of Teachers at a time when it, along with most other unions, did nothing to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans members. But Paul was instrumental in changing that culture. He was quite prepared to "bite the hand that feeds me" -  as he put it - at an NUT LGBT Conference where he was a keynote speaker, during which he lambasted the less than perfect history of the Union’s journey to an understanding of LGBT issues. His contribution, including that as a member of the NUT LGBT Working Party, helped ensure that the NUT has led the field in the work of achieving equality for LGBT teachers and students.

His work with Schools OUT helped ensure that all forms of oppression were tackled in schools. He led training to challenge homophobia and transphobia, as well as other forms of oppression, in the classroom and the workplace. He was always aware of the consequences of oppression and he was aware that it could take place in any sector of society. He also challenged homophobia and transphobia when it was practised within professions so that it became institutional. His own experience of being homophobically bullied by a Deputy Head made him aware of such things. He also helped the organisation to move on by recognising that many people found the umbrella term ‘gay’ to be exclusive, thus adding the L, the B and the T.

In 2004, Paul co-founded and helped set up LGBT History Month. As Co-Chair of the Month, he was tireless in his work to inspire others to celebrate, record and make our history, travelling the country and all the broadcast media studios he could find to bring the message of the importance of our visibility; especially to young people exploring their sexuality in an unsupportive environment. At this point, something needs to be said of his speaking style. Paul was born in South Shields but his immediate family moved to Burnley when he was young, and he worked in and around London for much of his early career. He consequently adopted a wonderful hotchpotch of regional accents, which, coupled with the fact that he was a true drama teacher and had amazing voice projection, ensured him a captive audience as soon as he opened his mouth. Nor was that audience ever disappointed. He was animated when he spoke, and he used humour to great effect, often as subterfuge before he attacked the shibboleths of some organisation that paid mealy-mouthed lip-service to the cause while in reality doing nothing.

 In 2005, the first LGBT History Month was held in February. Paul invented the verb ‘invisibilise’ and justified it in an interview with John McNaughtie on Radio 4’s Today programme.

It’s a sign of Paul’s commitment that up till the last moment he was still thinking of ideas to move the campaign forward.

We have lost a great and irreplaceable campaigner.

– Schools Out