LGBT History Month
As part of LGBT History Month and to develop your understanding of some
issues affecting LGBT people in Scotland, here’s a short quiz for you to try in
groups or individually.
History:
Education:
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
Literature:
Global:
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
LGBT History Month
ANSWERS TO ALL QUESTIONS IN BOLD
History
In which year:
1.Was homosexuality criminalised in Scotland?
(a) 1650
(b) 1901
(c) 1533
It was Henry the VIII who first criminalised homosexual acts in England, but the laws were ratified again by
Elizabeth I and James the VI of Scotland (1st of England) when he became king of both countries in 1603.
2. Were homosexual acts decriminalised in Scotland?
(a) 1945
(b) 1980
(c) 1967
Homosexuality was decriminalised in England in 1967, but not until 1980 in Scotland.
3. In what year was the first gay nightclub opened?
(a) 1990
(b) 1982
(c) 1971
Cobweb Disco opened in Edinburgh in 1971 by the Scottish Minorities Group (SMG). This was a Scottish gay
rights group officially founded in Glasgow on 9 May 1969. Cobweb Disco ran every Saturday for 4 years before
moving premises and becoming a monthly fundraising night for SMG.
4. When was Scotland’s first Pride march?
(a) 1995
(b) 1990
(c) 1985
The first Pride march in Scotland gathered on Barony Street in Edinburgh on 17 June. Police estimated that
around 3000 people attended. The route followed was Broughton Street, Leith Street, Princes Street, the Mound,
George IV Bridge, and down Middle Meadow Walk into the Meadows. The first Pride Festival on the Meadows
began as the procession arrived, and had a stage and surrounding stalls. It continued regardless of the rain,
finishing as scheduled at 9pm. The clean-up took almost the entire Sunday and around 20 volunteers.
5. When were the first same-sex marriages in Scotland?
(a) 2004
(b) 2015
(c) 2007
While the legislation was passed in 2014 it wasn’t until 00.01am on 1st January 2015 that the first same-sex
marriages took place in Scotland. The first marriage was attended by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Green
MSP Patrick Harvey, among family and friends of the people getting married.
This is after several years of there being civil partnerships in Scotland (from 2004) which grant similar rights to a
marriage.
LGBT History Month
Education
True or False:
1. Over 50% of LGBT young people have experienced bullying in relation to their perceived sexual or
gender identity.
True – LGBT Youth Scotland’s Education Report found that 69% of LGBT Young People experienced bullying in
Scottish schools.
2. Over half of LGBT young people who have experienced bullying feel that it has negatively impacted on
their education.
True - Over half (54%) of LGBT young people who have experienced homophobic or biphobic bullying feel that
it has negatively impacted on their education. 89% of those who had experienced transphobic bullying feel that it
has affected their education.
3. Teachers are not allowed to talk about LGBT issues in Scottish primary schools.
False – Teachers can talk to their pupils about LGBT issues and people if they want to, depending on the ethos
of the school.
4. If an LGBT Young Person ‘comes out’ to a teacher, that teacher has a legal obligation to tell the young
person’s parents/carers.
False: They do not, unless there is a further issue which may need to reported. Identifying as LGBT is not
something which, in itself, is something that parents need to told, especially where this goes against the express
concerns of the young person themselves.
5.
It is illegal for a teacher to tell their class/classes that they are LGBT.
False: They can if they chose to, though many teachers chose not to for a wide range of reasons.
Follow up question after quiz:
What might those reasons be?
LGBT History Month
Literature
1. In what year did the first LGBT bookshop open in Scotland?
(a) 1994
(b) 1967
(c) 1982
Lavender Menace bookshop opened on Forth Street, Edinburgh in 1982 as a development of earlier initiatives
around both radical and LGBT bookselling. It launched at a time when radical publishing was coming of age,
with a growing number of LGBT titles being produced - first by small independent presses in the United States
and then by UK-based publishers such as Gay Men's Press, the Women's Press, Brilliance Books and Virago.
But in addition to the books and music on its shelves, Lavender Menace provided a new kind of social space for
people who may not want to go out to bars and clubs.
2. When did Edwin Morgan – Glasgow's Poet Laureate and Scotland's first Makar – come out as
gay, when he was 70 years old?
(a) 2000
(b) 1980
(c) 1990
Edwin Morgan was a Scottish poet and translator who was associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is
widely recognised as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century. In 1999, Morgan was made the first
Glasgow Poet Laureate. In 2004, he was named as the first Scottish national poet: The Scots Makar.
3. The current Scots Makar, Jackie Kay, wrote a book called Trumpet inspired by the life of Billy
Tipton, a jazz musician who was notable for the post-mortem discovery that, although he lived his
adult life as a man, he was assigned female at birth. In what year did this book win the Guardian
Fiction Prize?
(a) 1994
(b) 1998
(c) 2002
The debut novel of Jackie Kay was incredibly well received and covers not only gender, but topics of race, grief
and identity.
4. In what year did Carol Ann Duffy become Poet Laureate?
(a) 2001
(b) 2009
(c) 2014
Carol Ann Duffy is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed
Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to
hold the position.
5. In what year did playwright Jo Clifford become the first trans woman to perform 'Reply from the
Lassies' at a Burn's Night celebration in Glasgow.
(a) 2016
(b) 2014
(c) 2012
Burns Night Suppers traditionally involve a ‘Toast to the Lassies’ and then a ‘Reply from the Lassies’. It is
considered an honour to be asked to deliver these humorous speeches.
LGBT History Month
Global
How many countries…
1. Allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt children?
(a) 35 (b) 27 (c) 109
They are: Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark (including
Greenland and Faroe Islands), Finland, France, Iceland,, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay.
2. Allow marriage between same-sex couples?
(a) 25 (b) 35 (c) 22
They are: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark (including Greenland), France, Iceland,
Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay
3. Have Pride parades to celebrate LGBT identities?
(a) 55 (b) 35 (c) 75
These are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Greenland, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United
Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam.
These countries have held Pride parades, but have been met with organised state resistance: Russia, South
Korea, Turkey and Uganda.
4. Allow openly lesbian, gay or bisexual people to serve in the army?
(b) 47 (b) 19 (c) 78
Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan,
Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay
5. In the London 2012 Olympics there were 23 out LGBT Olympians. How many were there in the 2016 Rio
Games?
(c) 44 (b) 64 (c) 84
Of the 10,444 participants in the Rio Olympics only 53 were out at the start of the games with 11 coming out
during or after their events. There were no openly transgender participants in the Rio Games, but the Olympic
committee has anonymous details of 2 transgender participants.