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Jake Daniels: Blackpool footballer comes out as gay | Newsround

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It's PRIDE month!!! Check out LGBT Shrewsbury

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It's PRIDE month!!! Check out LGBT Shrewsbury

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Bringing you news of all the lesbian gay bi trans events in the Shrewsbury area.

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June is Pride Month. Nationally the Royal Mint in Llantrisant is minting a coloured 50p piece to acknowledge it. Very collectable we think!

At Nerdy Social there'll be an extra special event mid month - karaoke with camp classics - on Friday 17 June at 7pm at Nerdy, Mardol. Plus Nerdy's regular slot on the first Tuesday as well.

Why not come along? Or to all Shrewsbury's regular events like LGBT Mondays at the Boars Head pub, at Havana, and at Chill Out on the first Monday in the Old Market Hall?

Newport (Salop) are celebrating Pride Month with several events: Pride Picnic in Norbroom Park 12 June 2pm, Pride Quiz at Novella 21 June 8pm, Stonewall Fundraiser Newport square 25 June from noon, Pride Extravaganza 25 June at central square 10.30pm £5 with DJ Harry Hancock. Info here.

In Oswestry Kinokulture launch their Summer of Queer Cinema with Benediction screening on 17, 18, 19 June. On 29 June there's 'Encounters Short Film Night - Queer Joy' from the Rainbow Film Festival. Details and tickets on the Kinokulture site here.

More things coming up -

* Ludlow Pride and Fringe Festival 4th July. Peter Roscoe will be presenting his talk on the history of Shropshire LGBT Switchboard at 7.30pm in the Rose & Crown pub (free tickets here)

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Bringing you news of all the lesbian gay bi trans events in the Shrewsbury area.

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XYZ Youth Group is aimed at LGBTQ+ people from secondary school age up to their 18th birthday. 

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For further information on the time and dates of sessions, our venue and/or signing up for XYZ Youth Group, contact Vanessa Postle at vanessa@sya.org.uk or Jess Williams at jess@sya.org.uk.

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Amy Beashel, author of ‘The Sky is Mine’ who lives in Shrewsbury has asked The Priory School for help writing her next book!

She is looking for a young person who identifies as bisexual or pansexual to read her new book (in the editing stages) and give her their opinion and input.  It has some mature content so it would need to be a pupil in year 10/11 or possibly year 9.
For further information please contact Mrs Edwards in the library or Lizzie.

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Jamie wants to be a drag queen, but nobody supports him apart from his Mum, his best friend and a retired drag artist.  All Jamie wants is to be true to himself, even if it means facing the school bullies wearing a dress to Prom!  Definitely worth a watch - Amazon Prime.
LB (she/they/he) Year 8

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Everybody’s Talking About Jamie | Official Trailer | 20th Century Studios

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A History of the Word BISEXUALITY

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/short-history-word-bisexuality

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LGBT+ History Month is a chance to shed new light on the history of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in the UK.

This year, we'll be looking forward to Pride 50 - the anniversary of the first Pride event in the UK. As well as celebrating the many momentous achievements our movement has had over the past half a century, we'll also be looking to the future. It's time to for us ask what we want to achieve in the next fifty years. What kind of world do we want to see for LGBTQ+ people in 2072?

During this pivotal year, we'll also be exploring the history of some often overlooked identities, and showing how we are always stronger, better and prouder together.

We'll be updating this hub with new content throughout the month. Keep an eye on this page and our social media channels, or sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date.

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LGBT+ History Month is a chance to shed new light on the history of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in the UK. This year, we'll be looking forward to Pride 50 - the anniversary of the first Pride event in the UK. As well as celebrating the many momentous achievements our movement has...

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We meet on the first Saturday of the month, 10.30am - 11.30am. It’s a relaxed, informal group for local LGBTQ+ families to meet up with other LGBTQ+ families in the area. This is a chance to make new friends and create a supportive network together. There’ll be refreshments and a chance to explore the museum collection in a fun and accessible way. No need to book, just turn up.

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We meet on the first Saturday of the month, 10.30am - 11.30am. It's a relaxed, informal group for local LGBTQ+ families to meet up with other LGBTQ+ families in the area. This is a chance to make new friends and create a supportive network together. There'll be refreshments and a chance to explore the museum collection in a fun and accessible way. No need to book, just turn up.

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We meet on the first Saturday of the month, 10.30am - 11.30am. It's a relaxed, informal group for local LGBTQ+ families to meet up with other LGBTQ+ families in the area. This is a chance to make new friends and create a supportive network together.

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Launching: 10th January 2022
When: Monday (fortnightly)
Where: B&E

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This is The Priory Schools Safe Space for information, advice and support for our LGBTQ+ community. This is a space where you can post content for others to read and watch. We have added some things to start you off but we want you to come up with some things you would like to share! We will use ClassCharts as a forum for you to share content and ideas that we can upload on here for you. You can also send any ideas to Lizzie from student support via teams. We are really looking forward to seeing what you guys find!!

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We want you to get your creativity flowing and make some LGBTQ+ artwork to post on our Safe Space padlet. You can choose what you would like to do a painting, collage, graphic design it's entirely up to you! If art & drawing aren't really your thing you can get inventive. Could you create a poem, photography portfolio, a song or dance to express yourself? Anything you like it's completely up to you! Here are some ideas to help get you started in the document below. To submit your piece to be posted send a picture or copy of your work to Lizzie or Dani from Student Support via Teams message. We look forward to seeing what you create :)

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See how these tech companies are celebrating pride!

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2021 Pride Skin only available in United States and Canada.

*Show your Pride is available in the following apps. Theme will roll-out to users in the coming weeks.
iOS: Outlook, Teams, OneNote, Office, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Android: Outlook and Teams
Mac: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
In Outlook, you can find the Pride themes in Settings > Appearance.
In all other apps, you can find Pride theme in Settings.

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2021 Pride Skin only available in United States and Canada. *Show your Pride is available in the following apps. Theme will roll-out to users in the coming weeks. iOS: Outlook, Teams, OneNote, Office, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Android: Outlook and Teams Mac: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote In Outlook, you can find the Pride themes in Settings > Appearance.

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Check out Waterstones best LGBTQ+ books for this pride month!

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We can order this from the publisher

Usually dispatched within 10-15 working days

The author of the hugely popular Red, White and Royal Blue delivers another big-hearted LGBTQ+ rom-com fizzing with great dialogue and relatable characters, as cynical August falls for 70s devotee Jane.

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We can order this from the publisher Usually dispatched within 10-15 working days The author of the hugely popular Red, White and Royal Blue delivers another big-hearted LGBTQ+ rom-com fizzing with great dialogue and relatable characters, as cynical August falls for 70s devotee Jane.

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In case you didn't know, February is LGBT History Month, run by Schools OUT UK.

This year's event focuses on Citizenship, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Law, as 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales.

It's important to remember the events which have taken place to bring us to this point in LGBT rights and history about lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities often isn't included in our school curriculum.

A lot of campaigning and change has happened over the last half century. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us.

So, let's have a look at 10 significant events from LGBT history and learn more about this community and our movement towards equality!

10 events from LGBT history

1. 1951 - Roberta Cowell is the first known British trans woman to undergo reassignment surgery

Cowell was a racing driver and World War II fighter pilot. She was born in Croydon and studied engineering at University College London (UCL). She underwent a secret procedure in order to get a certificate stating that she was intersex. This enabled her to undergo surgery and get a new birth certificate. In later life, she claimed that being intersex was what 'justified' her transition and focused specifically on chromosomes and genetics, an approach which was very much 'of its time' compared to the modern-day discourse around trans and gender identities.

Roberta Cowell - the first known British trans woman to undergo reassignment surgery. (Photo credit © British Book Centre, Inc.)
Find out more about Roberta Cowell
2. 1967 - the Sexual Offences Act decriminalises sex between two men over 21 and 'in private'

However, this didn't extend to the Navy, the Armed Forces, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, where sex between two men remained illegal.

3. 1969 - the 'Stonewall riots' take place in the USA

A series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations occurred. Members of the LGBT community fought against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan. As Jamilah King writes:

The bar's patrons clashed with police officers, in a raid that would have otherwise resulted in arrests and public shaming. However, this time the patrons fought back, setting off what we now know as the modern LGBT movement, including the tradition of LGBT Pride marches. Two often-forgotten people who made an impact that night were transgender women of colour: Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

The event triggered the modern LGBT liberation movement in the US and beyond.

Stonewall Inn - the New York City bar that where the Stonewall riots began

Marsha P Johnson - a leader of the Stonewall riots (Photo credit © Pay It No Mind/ Redux Pictures)

Sylvia Rivera - a leader of the Stonewall riots (Photo credit © Valerie Shaff)
Find out more about Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and the Stonewall riots
4. 1972 - the first Pride march is held in London, attracting around 2000 participants

Today, Pride in London attracts up to a million people, with other Pride events happening throughout the year and across the UK.
March with Stonewall at a 2017 Youth Pride event
5. 1982 - Terry Higgins dies of AIDS in St Thomas' Hospital

His partner Rupert Whittaker, Martyn Butler and friends set up the Terrence Higgins Trust, the UK's first AIDS charity. A year later, the government banned men who have sex with men from donating blood due to the AIDS crisis.
Read about the Terrence Higgins Trust
6. 1988 - Margaret Thatcher introduces Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988

The Act stated that councils should not "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship", meaning teachers couldn't speak about same-sex relationships with their students. This included students coming out to their teachers or tackling homophobic bullying.

This prompted Sir Ian McKellen to come out as gay on BBC Radio. He formed Stonewall with Michael Cashman CBE, Lisa Power MBE and others to lobby against Section 28 and other barriers to equality.

7. 1992 - the World Health Organisation declassifies same-sex attraction as a mental illness

The specialised agency of the United Nations, established on 7 April 1948 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, declassified same-sex attraction as a mental illness.

8. 1996 - a landmark case rules that an employee who was about to transition was wrongfully dismissed

It was the first piece of case law anywhere in the world which prevented discrimination in employment or vocational education against a trans person.
Explore the 'P vs S and Cornwall County Council' case
9. 1999 - former British National Party member David Copeland bombs the Admiral Duncan, one of Soho's oldest LGBT bars

The attack killed three and wounded at least 70. Following the attack, a large open air meeting took place in Soho Square and thousands attended. The Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner delivered a speech at the event, marking a turning point in the relationship between the LGBT community and the Metropolitan Police.

Admiral Duncan Soho pub. (Photo credit © Ewan Munro)
Have a look at the BBC's article from 1999 on the day of the bombing
10. 2004 - the Civil Partnership Act passes, granting civil partnership in the UK

The Act gave same-sex couples the same rights as married opposite-sex couples. Years later in 2013, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act was passed, legalising same-sex marriages. The Gender Recognition Act also passed in 2004, giving trans people full legal recognition in their appropriate gender. Right now, gender options are still limited to 'male' and 'female', so non-binary and gender-fluid people are not currently recognised under the Act.

Now that's what we call a whistle-stop tour through a few points of LGBT history!

This post looked mostly at the UK's LGBT history and there's much more to learn, so why not take a look at our detailed list of key dates for lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality?

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This year's event focuses on Citizenship, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Law, as 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales. It's important to remember the events which have taken place to bring us to this point in LGBT rights and history about lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities often isn't included in our school curriculum.

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Lesbian
A woman who has a sexual and/or romantic attraction towards women. Some women choose to define themselves as gay instead of lesbian.

Gay
A man who has a sexual and/or romantic attraction towards men. The term can also be used to describe homosexuality in general. Some women also identify as gay.

Bisexual
Someone who has sexual and/or romantic attraction to both women and men. It is often used as an umbrella term which can include any other orientations where there is attraction to more than one gender, whether that be romantic or sexual attraction.

Trans
An umbrella term used to describe any gender identity where the assigned sex at birth does not match a person's present gender identity. Trans* identities can fit within the binary (female or male) or outside of it. There is a whole spectrum of non-binary gender identities.

Queer or Questioning
Queer is often used as an umbrella term for people who are not straight or who don't identify with their assigned sex at birth. People may also identify as queer if they don't feel that the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans fully represent them. The "Q" can also stand for questioning. This is someone who is in the process of exploring their gender or sexual orientation, is unsure or is concerned about applying a social label to themselves.

Intersex
Someone who has a variation in sex characteristics (such as reproductive organs) that may not allow them to be distinctly identified as female or male.

Asexual
Someone who does not experience sexual attraction. They can still be romantically attracted to people, whether that is to the same or a different gender (alternatively, someone who doesn't experience romantic attraction is aromantic). There are many other identities within the asexual spectrum. For example, a demisexual is someone who only experiences sexual attraction when they have a strong emotional connection with another person and a grey-asexual is someone who only rarely experiences sexual attraction and under limited circumstances.

Non-binary
A person who does not feel that their gender identity 'fits' socially constructed gender roles.

More detailed terminology can be found here

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What does LGBTQ+ stand for? - Sefton Sexual Health Service

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Lesbian A woman who has a sexual and/or romantic attraction towards women. Some women choose to define themselves as gay instead of lesbian. Gay A man who has a sexual and/or romantic attraction towards men. The term can also be used to describe homosexuality in general. Some women also identify as gay.

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To mark the start of LGBT+ History Month, BBC Sport looks at the lives of six LGBT+ sportspeople who made history in their respective sports, but whose stories may not be as widely known.

From the first known British transgender woman to a Wimbledon champion, an NFL Pro-Bowler and a sprinter who successfully challenged her sport's governing body.

Here are six LGBT+ sportspeople we think you should know more about.
Warning: This article includes references to suicide, drug use and other issues such as sexual misconduct.
1. Panama Al Brown

Alfonso Teofilo Brown, better known as Panama Al Brown, was the first Latin American boxing world champion and is regarded as one of the greatest bantamweights in history.

During his career, Brown won an incredible 59 fights by knockout and was the bantamweight world champion for six years.

Brown was born in 1902 to Afro-Caribbean immigrant parents in Panama. His mother was a cleaner and his father died when Brown was 13 years old. As a teenager, Brown was working as a clerk at the Panama Canal Zone when he saw American soldiers boxing and decided to take up the sport.

Brown turned professional aged 20 and, the following year, won his first fight abroad in New York. He moved to the city, where his rise to the top of his sport was emphatic.

In 1926, after boxing across the USA for three years, Brown fought in Paris for the first time. He enjoyed it so much, he decided to move there.

In 1929, Brown became the first Latin American world champion when he beat Spain's Gregorio Vidal by a 15-round decision in New York. The victory made him a hero in Panama and he became renowned around Latin America.

Brown also became a popular boxer in Paris and fought in 40 bouts around Europe between 1929 and 1934.

He spent much of his life in the French capital and was reportedly adored by the French because of his ability to speak seven languages and his all-night partying.

He performed in cabaret shows too, and even tap-danced in one that showcased black talent and launched the career of Josephine Baker .

But not everyone loved the Panamanian. Brown was in a relationship with French writer Jean Cocteau, who became his manager, despite knowing little about the sport.

When rumours of Brown's sexuality spread, people began attending his fights just to jeer or spit at him during ring-walks, and after one fight, he was beaten unconscious by spectators.

All of this on top of the racial discrimination he already faced.

When World War Two began, Brown moved back to New York and tried to find work in cabaret clubs in Harlem, without success.

He began boxing again but was a faded force. In 1942, he was arrested for cocaine use and deported to Panama for a year.

After returning to Harlem, Brown - by now in his late 40s - got by as a sparring partner for aspiring boxers, earning a dollar per round.

Brown died of tuberculosis aged 48 in 1951. He was initially buried in a small grave in Harlem, until some boxing fans raised money to send his remains to Panama.

2. Dutee Chand

Dutee Chand, born in 1996, is the third Indian woman to qualify for the 100m at an Olympic Games, was the first Indian to reach a global sprint final - at the World Youths - and has two Asian Games silver medals. She is also the first openly gay athlete to compete for India.

Chand grew up in Chaka Gopalpur, a poor, rural village in Odisha's Jajpur district. She came out in 2019 - a year after India's Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex - and faced public backlash from people in her village, as well as her parents.

Chand's father told the Times of India his daughter's relationship was "immoral and unethical" , and she had "destroyed the reputation of [their] village."

Her mother added: "We belong to a traditional Odia weaver community which does not permit such things. How can we face our relatives and the society?"

But the media attention wasn't new for Chand. When she was 18 years old in 2014, she was disqualified from the Commonwealth Games because of her testosterone levels.

Like South African 800m legend Caster Semenya, Chand's natural levels of testosterone were normally only found in men. This is also known as difference of sexual development, or DSD.

Chand missed out on competing at the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2014 because of the suspension, refusing to subject herself to the "corrective" treatment (hormone suppression therapy) prescribed by the IAAF (now World Athletics) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Fast-forward a year, and Chand became the first athlete to challenge the "hyperandrogenism rules". They were temporarily suspended and Chand could compete again, and she went on to become an Olympian the following year. That same rule challenge was rejected for Semenya .

In 2018, Chand spoke about how she met Semenya at the Rio Games, who made her feel like a "close friend".

"She told me not to worry about the case and to focus on the sport. I am glad that my battle is over, but hers is not," said Chand.

In 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled in favour of the controversial rule, meaning athletes with DSD, like Semenya, would have to take the hormone-limiting drugs if they wanted to compete in the 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, one mile races and combined events over the same distances.

As a sprinter, Chand is exempt from the rule. But she reportedly offered Semenya her legal team that worked on her 2015 appeal.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Chand spent time distributing food deliveries and sanitary pads to people in her village.

She is also planning on opening an athletics academy for locals, and told Vogue: "I want another child aspiring to be a runner to run barefoot like me."

In contrast to being banned from the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Chand was recently announced as one of four ambassadors for the Birmingham 2022 Games' Pride House .

3. Roberta Cowell

Roberta Cowell, born in 1918, was a racing driver, a WW2 fighter pilot and the first known British trans woman to have sex-reassignment surgery.

Cowell's father was Major General Sir Ernest Marshall Cowell, honorary surgeon to King George VI - the Queen's father.

She became interested in cars and racing, saying in her biography: "It was the be-all and nearly the end-all of my existence."

Cowell left school at 16 and would later join the RAF, but her ambition of becoming a fighter pilot was initially dashed by airsickness.

She instead started studying engineering in 1936 at University College London, where she also began pursuing her interest in motor racing.

What started as Cowell donning mechanical overalls to sneak into car service areas at Brooklands racing circuit to gain experience led to her racing alongside her studies and in 1939 she competed at the Antwerp Grand Prix.

At 23, Cowell married fellow race car driver Diana Zelma Carpenter and the couple had two daughters.

During WW2, Cowell transferred back to the RAF, working as a temporary pilot officer. In 1944, she spent five months in German prisoner of war camps after her aircraft crashed and she was captured by German troops.

Cowell raced competitively after the war but was increasingly uncomfortable with her body - by 1950 she was still living as a man, but taking large doses of oestrogen.

She met doctor Michael Dillon, the first trans man to get a phalloplasty (a construction of a penis), and he carried out an operation on Cowell to remove her testicles - a procedure that was illegal in the UK at the time.

This allowed Cowell to get a document stating she was intersex from a private gynaecologist, which enabled her to obtain a new birth certificate that stated her sex as female.

In 1951, Cowell became the first person in Britain to have a vaginoplasty (construction of a vagina out of penile tissue). It was carried out by Sir Harold Gillies, widely considered the father of plastic surgery, who has only previously performed the procedure on a cadaver.

After her transition, Cowell returned to motorsport and continued to race during the 1950s and 1960s, before running into financial problems.

Cowell died aged 93 in 2011 while living alone in south west London. She had requested there be no publicity when she died, and her daughters, who she had not seen since before her divorce decades earlier, only found out about her death two years later when an obituary was published.

4. Freda du Faur

Freda du Faur, born in Sydney in 1882, was an Australian mountaineer who became the first woman to climb Mount Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain, in 1910.

Du Faur grew up near Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park where she taught herself to rock climb. She was studying to be a nurse when she received inheritance money from her aunt that allowed her to travel and become a full-time mountaineer.

Du Faur prepared for her climb of Mount Cook at a physical education institute in Sydney, where she met trainer Muriel Cadogan, who would eventually become her partner.

On 3 December 1910, guided by Peter Graham and his brother Alec, Du Faur became the first woman to climb the 3,760m tall Mount Cook, in a then-record time of six hours.

After the climb, Du Faur said: "I gained the summit - feeling very little, very lonely and much inclined to cry."

In the following years, she climbed several other mountains, including one that was later named after her, as well as the second-highest mountain in New Zealand, Mount Tasman.

In 1914, Du Faur moved to England and lived with Cadogan in Bournemouth while writing a book about climbing Mount Cook.

In 1929, Cadogan had a nervous breakdown and Du Faur tried to admit her to a mental facility.

Instead, they were both admitted, drugged and separated against their will. Unlike male homosexuality, which was a crime, lesbianism was then classed as a psychological disorder.

Eventually, Cadogan was sent back to Sydney and took her own life on the cargo boat on the journey back.

After Cadogan's death, Du Faur was released from the facility. She returned to Australia to live with her family, but remained confused and depressed.

Du Faur killed herself in 1935 and her family buried her in an unmarked grave. In 2006, a plaque was added to her grave site to commemorate her legacy.

As well as the mountain named after Freda, the Southern Alps of New Zealand are home to the Cadogan Peak, named after Muriel Cadogan.

5. Jerry Smith

Jerry Smith, born in Oregon in 1943, was a tight end for the NFL's Washington Redskins for 13 seasons. When he retired, Smith held the NFL record for most career touchdowns by a tight end (60). The two-time Pro-Bowler never publicly came out as gay before he died of Aids aged 43.

Smith was selected in the ninth round of the 1965 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, now called the Washington Football Team . At 6ft 3in, he was considered small for a tight end. But he went on to have a long and successful career, holding various NFL records, and was widely regarded as one of the best tight ends of his time.

Smith's record for most career touchdowns was only broken in 2003 by Shannon Sharpe, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Smith's close friend and team-mate Brig Owens has claimed Smith would also be in the Hall of Fame if not for his sexuality.

Smith was in a brief relationship with team-mate David Kopay, who in 1975 became the first NFL player to come out, three years after retiring.

Kopay referred to a sexual encounter with Smith, using an alias for him, in his autobiography. Smith never spoke to Kopay again.

Smith was briefly coached by NFL legend Vince Lombardi, who he loved playing for, and whose brother was openly gay.

Lombardi tried to ensure there was tolerance for everybody in the locker room, reportedly hinting to Smith that he knew about and accepted his sexuality.

Shortly before he died, Smith said: "Every important thing a man searches for in his life, I found in Coach Lombardi. He made us men."

Owens, who often roomed with Smith, said that Smith lived in fear and never came out because he worried if people knew he was gay, his career would be ruined.

In 1986, Smith became the first professional athlete to announce he had been diagnosed with Aids. He died two months later.

A few weeks before his death, he was interviewed for an article in the Washington Post so that, as he said, 'Middle America' might finally accept that Aids could affect anyone. Even an NFL player.

6. Bill Tilden

Bill Tilden, born in 1893, won 10 Grand Slam titles including three Wimbledon and seven US Nationals (now US Open) titles.

He dominated tennis for more than a decade, at one point winning every major tournament he entered for six years. He was also openly gay.

In 1929, Tilden became the first men's player to reach 10 finals at a single Grand Slam event - a record which was only broken in 2017 when Roger Federer reached his 11th Wimbledon final .

Tilden was born to a wealthy family in Philadelphia. He played tennis as a child, but it wasn't until his early 20s that he started taking the sport seriously.

By the age of 22, both his parents and his older brother had died, causing him to suffer from severe depression. Tennis became his way of coping.

Tilden became the first American man to win Wimbledon in 1920. He won again the following year and said it was "too easy", so didn't play at the tournament for the next three years.

In 1930, aged 37, he became the oldest man to win a Wimbledon singles title. The following year, desperately needing to earn money, Tilden began playing professionally and continued on the pro circuit into his 50s.

However, in 1946, Tilden was arrested, charged and sentenced to a year in prison for 'contributing to the delinquency of a minor' - although he disputed his conviction.

On his release, Tilden's parole conditions were strict and lasted five years, and the tennis world shunned him. Tilden could no longer earn an income from giving lessons anymore - apart from when his friend Charlie Chaplin allowed him to use his private court.

Tilden was arrested again in 1949 for groping a 16-year-old hitchhiker. He served 10 months in prison.

Despite those convictions, in a 1950 Associated Press poll, Tilden was unanimously voted the greatest tennis player of the half-century. This was just weeks after being released from prison.

During the years he spent on the pro tour, Tilden lived in a suite in a New York hotel where he wrote Broadway shows that he would produce and star in, as well as books on tennis strategy. He faded from public life and in 1953, aged 60, died of heart complications.

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LGBT+ History Month: Six LGBT+ sportspeople you should know more about

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To mark the start of LGBT+ History Month, BBC Sport looks at the lives of six LGBT+ sportspeople who made history in their respective sports, but whose stories may not be as widely known. From the first known British transgender woman to a Wimbledon champion, an NFL Pro-Bowler and a sprinter who successfully challenged her sport's governing body.

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Elliot Page described himself as trans and queer in a letter to fans.

The "Umbrella Academy" star, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2007 film "Juno," clarified his name and pronouns in a letter shared on Twitter.

"I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life," he wrote. "I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self."

In the letter, Page denounced politicians "who work to criminalize trans health care and deny our right to exist," and "all of those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community."

He added: "I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive."

Page, who is married to dancer Emma Portner, previously came out as gay during a 2014 speech at Time to Thrive, a conference to promote the welfare of LGBTQ youth in Las Vegas.

"I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission," the actor said. "I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain."

Fans of Brendon Urie have always seen him as a queer icon.

As the front man of Panic! at the Disco, Brendon Urie became known for rejecting stereotypical masculinity, toying with androgyny, and embracing sexuality.

"I'm married to a woman and I'm very much in love with her but I'm not opposed to a man because to me, I like a person," he told Paper magazine in 2018. "Yeah, I guess you could qualify me as pansexual because I really don't care. If a person is great, then a person is great. I just like good people, if your heart's in the right place. I'm definitely attracted to men. It's just people that I am attracted to."

Janelle Monáe has opened up about her "free" sexuality.

"Being a queer black woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women - I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf---er," Monae said in an interview with Rolling Stone.

As the article makes clear, Monae first identified as bisexual.

"But then later I read about pansexuality and was like, 'Oh, these are things that I identify with too,'" Monae said. "I'm open to learning more about who I am."

Tessa Thompson revealed that she's "attracted to men and also to women" in 2018.

As a queer woman, Thompson pushed for her "Avengers" character to be explicitly bisexual onscreen and frequently advocates for more inclusion in Hollywood.

"I don't think any artist has the responsibility to be the ambassador, especially when it comes to who you love," she recently told Time. "I don't begrudge anyone who wants to keep that separate from their professional life. There's not just a perceived risk of coming out in Hollywood. There's a real one."

Laverne Cox is one of the most recognizable trans actors of all time.

"I think it's important to be able to be like, 'Yes, your shoulders are broad, yes your hands are big and your voice is deep and you're really tall and people notice you, and that makes you noticeably trans, but that doesn't make you any less beautiful,'" she told Self magazine. "You're not beautiful despite those things, you're beautiful because of those things, and [believing] that has to be an active conscious process."

"I'm sexy and I'm going to own that because I think trans women are sexy," she continued. "A lot of us are sexy not despite our transness, but because of our transness. That's just the truth."

Hayley Kiyoko is known by her fans as "Lesbian Jesus."

Kiyoko hopes that, by singing about her own experiences and featuring same-sex love stories in her videos, she can help queer fans accept themselves.

"That's the whole reason for doing pop music and being in the mainstream and being bold: trying to showcase not [being] scared. I don't want people to be like, 'Well, my life's gonna suck for the next 10 years.' No! Your life can be amazing now," she told The Guardian.

Kehlani has written songs about loving both men and women.

Kehlani clarified that she's "queer, not bi, not straight," in a series of tweets in 2018 - but the singer has long been a visible member of the LGBTQ community, particularly after the release of her 2017 love song "Honey."

"I mean, I've been making music about women my whole career, but I never felt the need to write 'she,' necessarily. It wasn't in the forefront of my mind," she later said in an interview with The Fader. "But now I've seen how people reacted to my song 'Honey,' or when I've used the correct pronouns and put women in my music videos. Just seeing how much people felt like they needed that representation or how much it inspired them definitely encouraged me to step into this new phase of making music."

Asia Kate Dillon is the first non-binary actor with a starring role on American TV.

"I would have never wanted to play Taylor if it had been a one-off episode and in that episode it would have been all about their gender identity," Dillon told NBC News. "If it hadn't been a fully fleshed-out character, I wouldn't have wanted to do it, because that representation is old hat, frankly, and not interesting. Non-binary people are multi-dimensional human beings."

Demi Lovato says she's "very fluid."

"I think love is love," Lovato told InStyle. "You can find it in any gender. I like the freedom of being able to flirt with whoever I want."

Billy Porter advocates for better roles for gay actors.

In physically and a 2017 op-ed for the New York Times, Billy Porter revealed he had been bullied and sexually abused throughout his childhood.

"None of this was easy," he wrote. "I lost high-profile roles I knew I could have gotten, and the paychecks that went with them. Homelessness and bankruptcy were part of this journey as well."

He reflected on his evolution as a gay man in theater, his recent success on Broadway, and FX's "Pose," and his refusal to keep playing stereotypes.

"The world has caught up with me," he concluded, "and I'm a living witness that dreams do come true, even if they aren't the ones you start out with."

Lauren Jauregui has invoked her bisexuality to make a political statement.

"I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it," Jauregui wrote in an open letter to Trump voters. "I am proud to be part of a community that only projects love and education and the support of one another."

Evan Rachel Wood says "labels are tricky," but has historically fought for bisexual visibility.

"I prefer 'queer,'" Wood wrote on Twitter in 2013. "Bisexual works too except I don't exclude transgender people. This is why labels are tricky."

The "Westworld" actress then addressed a variety of biphobic assumptions in a series of tweets in 2015.

"I can assure you that whatever 'straight privilege' I sometimes get accused of having, gets erased by #biphobia," she wrote. "Remember, bisexuality doesn't mean halfway between gay or straight. It is its own identity."

Miley Cyrus has spoken openly about the roles of gender and sexuality in her career - and, more recently, her relationships.

"We're redefining, to be f---ing frank, what it looks like for someone that's a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship," she told Vanity Fair after marrying her longtime love, Liam Hemsworth.

"A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person," she continued. "What I preach is: People fall in love with people, not gender, not looks, not whatever. What I'm in love with exists on almost a spiritual level. It has nothing to do with sexuality."

After announcing her split from Hemsworth, Cyrus began dating Kaitlynn Carter and opened up about her own fluidity.
Read more: Miley Cyrus defends her dating habits and slams slut-shaming: 'Can't I just have a kiss and açaí bowl?!?!'
Back in 2015, Cyrus launched a foundation to support homeless LGBTQ youth.

Before he found success in the music industry, Troye Sivan came out as a YouTuber in 2013.

Sivan addressed his sexuality in a 2013 video on his popular YouTube channel, titled "Coming Out."

"This is not something that I'm ashamed of, and it's not something that anyone should have to be ashamed of," he said.

He followed he candid video with a "Part 2" in 2015 and now, as a pop star and actor, Sivan has continued to openly discuss his experiences as a gay man. He's also a vocal advocate for intersectional support of the LGBTQ community.

"The first step and the hardest step is coming out to yourself," he told Dazed in 2016. "Realizing who you are and your identity - once you've gotten past that process - make sure you're in a safe environment. And if you feel it is a safe environment, I would highly, highly recommend coming out. I can speak from personal experience and say it's been the best thing I've ever done in my entire life."

Kristen Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, famously joked about being "so gay" on "Saturday Night Live."

"You're not confused if you're bisexual," she told The Guardian in 2017. "It's not confusing at all. For me, it's quite the opposite."

Stewart also spoke to the complexity that comes with having her sexuality in the spotlight.

"I mean, it's hard to talk about," Steward said. "I don't want to seem presumptuous, because everyone has their own experience. The whole issue of sexuality is so grey. I'm just trying to acknowledge that fluidity, that grayness, which has always existed. But maybe only now are we allowed to start talking about it."

Sia revealed she identifies as queer in 2013.

In 2017, for Billboard's "Love Letter to the LGBTQ Community" series, Sia wrote that she "decided to dedicate myself to the queer community in a more meaningful way."

The singer largely used her brief letter to spotlight the struggles and many-varied faces within the LGBTQ community.

"I am so very grateful for my queer community and would have withered away long ago without them," she wrote. "Specifically my manager David, who has held my hand now for 12 years, through light and dark. He recently came out publicly as HIV positive, and the transformation of his shame into self acceptance has been magic to watch. I am so happy and proud of him."

Ezra Miller has publicly embraced gender fluidity, polyamory, and queerness.

"The way I would choose to identify myself wouldn't be gay," Miller told The Daily Beast in 2012. "I've been attracted mostly to 'shes,' but I've been with many people and I'm open to love wherever it can be found."

Miller told GQ in 2018 that his gender identity is fluid and he's "comfortable with all the pronouns."

In a more recent interview with Playboy, Miller called himself a "sexual being" and said he's been exploring polyamorous relationships: "I'm trying to find queer beings who understand me as a queer being off the bat."

When Kesha falls in love, she says it's "not about a gender."

"I don't love just men. I love people," Kesha told Seventeen Magazine. "It's not about a gender. It's just about the spirit that exudes from that other person you're with."

Cara Delevingne doesn't hesitate to respond to bigotry about her bisexuality.

When a Vogue writer implied that her bisexuality is a "phase," Delevingne directly addressed the comment: "My sexuality is not a phase," she told the New York Times in 2015. "I am who I am."

"Why should I have to explain who I am to you?" the supermodel-turned-actress added in 2017. "You should know that. If you have a question, ask me and I'll tell you what you want to know. People should be allowed to just be who they are and others need to stop putting others in a box."

Amandla Stenberg identifies as gender non-binary and pansexual.

"Gender and sexuality are so fluid. It's OK to change your mind a million times and figure out what works for you. It's OK to take your time," Stenberg told Seventeen magazine in 2018. "I love that we have this umbrella term of 'queer,' and so many things can exist underneath it, but I realized that part of my journey was hiding underneath that umbrella, because I was scared - on a personal and a public level - to confront what I was."

"It was easier for me to say 'I'm bi' or "I'm pan' as I was figuring it out," they continued. "But I came to a place where I felt really proud of my sexuality, and I decided I wanted to share that pride."

Frank Ocean's celebrated music often explores his relationships with men.

Just before the release of his debut album, "Channel Orange," Ocean posted an intimate note on his Tumblr that clarified its inspiration.

"Four summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too," Ocean wrote. "It was my first love, it changed my life."

"I don't have any secrets I need kept anymore," he continued. "I feel like a free man."

While Ocean has largely avoided any specific label, many fans interpret his 2017 single "Chanel" as an exploration of bisexuality.

Neil Patrick Harris came out as gay in 2006.

In his 2014 memoir, "Choose Your Own Autobiography," Harris reflected on his experience with coming to terms with his sexuality.

"After a long internal journey, you now embrace being gay, recognizing it as a wonderful and integrally important component part of the totality that is you," he wrote.

Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary and genderqueer, recently said they "decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out."

In September, the "Stay With Me" singer began using "they/them" pronouns: "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out," they wrote on Instagram.

"I am at no stage just yet to eloquently speak at length about what it means to be non binary," they continued, "but I can't wait for the day that I am. So for now I just want to be VISIBLE and open."

Smith had previously opened up about their fluid approach to sexuality and how they "float somewhere in between" male and female during an interview with Jameela Jamil.

"Non-binary, genderqueer is that you do not identify in a gender," Smith said. "You are a mixture of all different things. You are your own special creation. That's how I take it. I'm not male or female, I think I float somewhere in between. It's all on a spectrum. I think the same with sexuality."

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31 celebrities who are openly proud about being LGBTQ

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Elliot Page described himself as trans and queer in a letter to fans. The "Umbrella Academy" star, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2007 film "Juno," clarified his name and pronouns in a letter shared on Twitter. "I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here.

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Safe Space - Every other Monday in the B&E

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We support LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and those questioning their sexual or gender identity) children, young people and their families in the UK.

All of our services strive to be safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ young people.

We provide direct support to LGBTQ children and young people around their gender and sexual identities. We also work with parents, carers and families.

Through our Positive Identities service we offer training to schools, professionals and community groups. Our training raises awareness of LGBTQ lives, promotes inclusion and tackles homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Find out more and get advice.

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We support LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and those questioning their sexual or gender identity) children, young people and their families in the UK. All of our services strive to be safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ young people. We provide direct support to LGBTQ children and young people around their gender and sexual identities.

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On this page you can find
- Advice for students coming out
- Gender transitioning
- How to support a friend
- And loads of other advice and support!
https://www.studentminds.org.uk/lgbtq.html#

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Celebrating colourful creatures for LGBT+ History Month

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Select pupils who have access to Ebooks can check out these LGBTQ+ texts and explore what can be listened to!