How to be an LGBTQIA+ ally

I built Curious Arts from the ground up in 2017. We’re a Newcastle-based LGBTQIA+ arts organisation operating across the North East and beyond. Our focus – before Covid – was primarily to deliver an annual, cross artform festival of performance, talks and commissions. We provided a vital opportunity for audiences to encounter arts and experiences that questioned, provoked, celebrated and – crucially – represented the diversity of LGBTQIA+ people.  

As with many organisations, Covid crashed into our business models, scuppering long-held plans and dividing artists and audiences from IRL experiences. Pivot was the word du jour and we had to reimagine our worlds quickly and consider alternative income streams while remaining true to our mission. 

As the lockdown hit, we were applying for charitable status so funding opportunities were limited, oversubscribed or extremely specific. As a collective of freelancers, this had a huge impact. We were eligible for furlough but Curious Arts was close to going bust.

For some the pandemic meant non-stop work. For others, it offered furlough and some enforced downtime filled with everything from banana bread, Zoom quizzes and DIY. There was some extra time for reflection. Arts organisations were largely composed of skeleton staff and furloughed employees.

Unique collision of circumstances

Covid shone a light on ongoing inequalities and debates raged about how to respond quickly and appropriately. The LGBTQIA+ community saw hate crime rise and a pronounced increase in transphobia. This shows no sign of slowing. 

This unique collision of circumstances provided a context for us to develop a training programme to better equip organisations for working with LGBTQIA+ staff, artists and audiences. The programme developed organically from realising that organisations we partnered with were not ready for the audiences and artists we were connecting them with. 

The training encompassed policy making, awareness, staff confidence and use of language. It helped explain why a such a consistently low level of LGBTQIA+ activity had been programmed. Even where there was good will and intention, fear of getting it wrong often limited progress and ‘getting on with it’.

Add to this the lack of LGBTQIA+ people in directorial or senior leadership positions and it became clear why such work lacked visibility and needed continued championing. During lockdowns, while arts venues were closed, furloughed staff were permitted to undertake training. So we developed our training to be interactive, respective of access and deliverable over Zoom. 

How to be a better LGBTQIA+ ally

Organisations across the North signed up to learn and have honest conversations in staff groups. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Northern Stage, Liverpool Everyman, Beamish Museum, Theatre By The Lake in Keswick and Live Theatre were among those that logged on. They were provided with information, encouraged to ask questions and split into break-out sessions to better understand barriers and concerns. Trustees often joined core staff in the spirit of everyone learning and contributing to inclusive practice. 

The training provided awareness of how to be a better LGBTQIA+ ally, instilled the confidence to have further conversations – in professional or personal life – and asked participants to pledge to make changes in their workplace. While this might seem unnecessary, a survey conducted by UK Black Pride (2019) found 38% of people in the UK don’t think it's appropriate for their LGBT+ colleagues to be out in the workplace, and 25% of LGBTQ+ respondents aren’t out at work. 

After the training, Lucy of Havering Change commented: “Curious Arts created a very welcoming space and set the tone early that we are all learning and that it was a space you can make mistakes in. We learn from mistakes. They expertly guided and supported participants through a lot of information and left me wanting more. I felt much more confident coming away from the session than I did going in.”

Word spread across partners and networks. Soon requests were coming from national organisations wanting to access our training for staff at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Old Vic, Crafts Council, Libraries Unlimited and Sherman Theatre, Wales. It also led to new working relationships with organisations such as York Art Gallery, who approached Curious to provide a takeover programme for diverse, rainbow families. 

Create impact with real purpose

To date, 132 training sessions have been delivered to 121 different organisations, reaching a total of 1,636 participants. Not only have we been providing an essential resource, but branching out boldly in this way has provided a lifeline in generating much-needed income in this precarious financial period.  

Appetite and requests for the training have continued unabated. We have now adapted it to be delivered in person too. We’ve also developed the training for educational settings including Gateshead College and New College Durham and the Social Care team at Middlesbrough Council. 

A new partnership with Northern Pride will see us beginning to deliver to larger scale corporates including Sky and national insurance companies. Through creative delivery, professional experience in the sector, lived experience and authentic voices we have proved we can work across multiple sectors.

While the pandemic is officially over, a sobering statistic from a November 2021 study by Just Like Us, the LGBT+ Young People’s Charity, found 57% of LGBT+ young people in the North East report feeling lonely and separated from the people they’re closest to on a daily basis since the pandemic began – more than anywhere else in England. The UK-wide figure is 52% and compares with 27% of young people who are not LGBT+. 

The lesson we have learned from this pivot is that arts organisations can diversify out of necessity, exceed original ambition and create impact with real purpose.

Phil Douglas is Chief Executive Officer & Executive Producer of Curious Arts. 
@curious_phil | @CuriousArts