'You get questions that just break your heart'
A charity has put out a call for young LGBT+ volunteers across Manchester to sign up to speaking in schools, to help "lessen the stigma" around growing up queer.
"I think generally, when you mention school to a queer adult, they don't want to talk about it," she told the M.E.N. "They don't want to think about it or touch it. When I first left school, I could not imagine wanting to step back into the classroom." "But I'm quite feminine, and bolshy, and political. So I talk a lot about how I realised I could be both. I get a lot of kids going 'I didn't know you could be a lesbian and wear makeup.'"
Reaction and response from the children has been "overwhelmingly positive", but teachers are on hand to help in the rare event that things get rowdy. "You're not getting thrown to the wolves", said Deia. "But they do have a lot of questions." According to Deia, the charity tries its best to match the speaker to the school, so that a visit to a faith school is matched by a volunteer from that faith.
Laura Mackay, Chief Executive of Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity, said: "Our Just Like Us ambassadors are extraordinary individuals who share their stories and experiences, providing the positive and relatable representation that all school pupils benefit from.
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