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APPENDIX 1
Mainstreaming equalities
Case Study: the LGBT Charter of Rights at Stevenson College, Edinburgh
Stevenson College in Edinburgh was the first to be awarded their LGBT Charter mark. The college became interested in the LGBT Charter mark as the ten step charter process offered a simple and structured way of examining and clearly identifying what they did well in terms of including LGBT people and what things they needed to do better.
They formed a small working group consisting of their Equality Officer, Staff Development Officer, Library Manager and LGBT Student Representative and began to work through the Charter process, discovering that they needed to make LGBT young people more visible to ensure that LGBT people felt included in their college.
The college displayed an extensive range of books, leaflets and other resources in the college library, had positive images of LGBT people in the form of posters around the college, arranged awareness talks for all staff and students and set out to devise a buddy system for LGBT students.
Stevenson College felt that working through the ten steps of the Charter not only helped to get them on track with including LGBT young people but the process actually sparked off other initiatives such as continuing to build up resources and the buddy scheme.
Staff felt that they had benefited from the training that LGBT Youth Scotland had delivered and found LGBT Youth Scotland staff supportive especially when their presence was apparent at Fresher's Fayres, Open Days and during LGBT History Month.
Stevenson College's experience of working through the LGBT Charter of Rights process has been positive as it has allowed staff to work towards and promote better practice and to make LGBT young people more visible and included in their college.
Visit the Charter section of LGBT Youth Scotland's website at: www.lgbtyouth.org.uk
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