I don’t know if you heard, but we had a same sex couple (briefly – darn COVID!) on Strictly Come Dancing last year.

It was officially a ‘thing’.

Now, you may be wondering, ‘Why did we draw attention to this? Surely we can all just get on with our lives, whether that is in heterosexual relationships or not?’.

One day, my friends, that indeed is the goal.

But, right now, it is simply not the case.

According to a Stonewall report, more than a third of LGBT staff (35 per cent) have hidden or disguised that they are LGBT at work in the last year because they were afraid of discrimination. Almost one in five LGBT staff (18 per cent) have been the target of negative comments or conduct from work colleagues in the last year because they're LGBT and one in eight trans people (12 per cent) have been physically attacked by customers or colleagues in the last year because of being trans.

People continue to be subject to abuse, discrimination and hate crime because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Because of this, we need to take positive action to redress this disadvantage. We need to celebrate same sex couples as they simply have been disqualified from participation in the past.

Statistics aside, the one frequent question that reminds me of the need to mark LGBT history month is the, often well-intended, ‘Do you have a boyfriend/husband?’, or a similar question that assumes the gender of a potential partner. It is this assumption, and the daily need for those not in heterosexual relationships to correct this, that shows action and awareness is still required.

LGBT History month continues to be an essential part of our equalities calendar. When the statistics demonstrate equality of opportunity and we have eradicated harassment and discrimination, we can gladly delete the calendar reminder.