LGBT+ History Month 2026
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Published 19 Feb 2026 in Raising Awareness
February is LGBT+ History Month, read our update to find out more.
Over the past 50+ years Schools OUT have worked to #educateOUTprejudice and usualise LGBT+ lives, creating learning environments where all LGBT+ people feel safe, seen, and supported. This month is significant as it coincides with the abolition of section 28, a policy that prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. To find out more about section 28 and how it affected the LGBT community watch this short video here
With events in the USA, Europe and the UK it is even more important that we:
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Claim our past
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Celebrate our present
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Create our future
The theme for LGBT+ history month this year is Science and innovation, which impact our daily lives, from the technology we use to developments in healthcare, as well as helping us to address global challenges such as climate change and access to clean energy.
Diverse teams are essential for the development of solutions which benefit everyone, yet we might often struggle to name LGBT+ scientists and innovators. The 2026 theme for LGBT+ History Month aims to highlight the contributions of LGBT+ people historically and today, and to raise awareness of the people behind them.
Alongside celebrating LGBT+ people, it is important to highlight the harm that LGBT+ people have historically faced as a result of the ways in which science has been explored and misapplied in the past, such as through the medicalisation and pathologisation of LGBT+ identities, and how we still need to address this today.
Find out more about 2 historical LGBT+ historical figures in line with this year’s theme
Barbara Burford, a medical researcher who established NHS equality and diversity guidelines
Charles Beyer, a locomotive engineer and a founding member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers