Ipswich is a lot queerer than the rest of the country

In June last year, the results of the 2021 census were published by the Office for National Statistics. This is a survey circulated nationally every 10 years, to build up a picture of the general population.

This census made history, in that it was the first to ask respondents how they identified in terms of their sexuality and gender identity.

The results showed that, on average, Ipswich is a lot queerer than the rest of the country.

This year's Pride was a little different to those from years gone by, with no traditional march along the Ipswich Waterfront. Image: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

Of the 92.5% of respondents in England and Wales who chose to answer the question, 3.1% identified as something other than heterosexual. Of these, 1.5% of respondents identified as gay or lesbian, while 1.3% identified as bisexual. A further 0.3% chose ‘Other’, with examples given of pansexual, asexual, and queer.

When it came to their gender identity, 0.5% said that the sex registered on their birth certificate and the way they identified now were different. Simply speaking, they may have been described as a girl or a boy when they were growing up but didn’t feel like these terms accurately described them today.

Some chose to identify as transgender men and women. Others identified as non-binary, wrote in a different gender identity, or chose not to explain any further.

Ipswich, however, bucked the trend.

Of the 16 areas the town was divided into, half had either met or bested the national average of citizens who identified as something other than straight. For areas such as Ipswich Central, it was almost double at 6.13%.

When it came to gender, the results were higher still. In nine of the 16 areas, more citizens identified as something other than cisgender than elsewhere in the country, and significantly so.

In Maidenhall, Stoke and Port, the figure was 1.16%, and in Ipswich Central it was 1.14%, more than double the national average of people whose gender does not match up with their registered sex at birth. In Westgate, the figure was 1.81 – almost four times as many.

Surely, then, this multitude of LGBTQ+ people should mean that the Ipswich-based Suffolk Pride group is flooded with volunteers?

In fact, Pride 2023 was different from what those in the town have come to expect.

Becki Blackwood has been the Chair of Suffolk Pride since March. Image: Abygail Fossett (Newsquest) (Image: Abygail Fossett (Newsquest))L-R: Luis Martins, Becki Blackwood and Kate Lankester are all current members of Suffolk Pride. Image: Abygail Fossett (Newsquest) (Image: Abygail Fossett (Newsquest))

The reason for this, explained Chair Becki Blackwood, was that the Pride committee simply did not have enough members to pull off such a huge organisational feat without putting enormous pressure on its current volunteers.

Instead, the committee put together a month of different events in July, from wellbeing walks to markets to youth events. The fringe festival kicked off with speeches made on the Cornhill for Pride Blooms, which was part vigil, part call to action.

It has been well documented that since the pandemic, the number of people able to donate their time to any voluntary organisation is in sharp decline.

However, it could be assumed that in this case, fear of encountering prejudice and discrimination may be a contributing factor.

Although strides have been made and attitudes have changed in recent years,

“Even when you are walking around in Ipswich and are perceived as a trans person or a feminine man, you often experience some sort of heckling or hate speech,” explained current Pride member Luis Martins.

“Homophobia is a consequence of a lack of education,” agreed Pride's press officer Kate Lankester.

• READ MORE: Kate shares her experience as a trans woman in Ipswich for International Women's Day

In March, current Pride member Kate Lankester shared her experience as a transgender woman for International Women's Day. Image: Newsquest (Image: Abygail Fossett (Newsquest))

Not so long back, it was a criminal offence to educate young people about homosexuality and differing genders.

Section 28 was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1988.

It decreed: “A local authority shall not promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.”

In effect, this meant that schools were forbidden from making any reference to homosexuality, be that in the books, plays, leaflets or films they were allowed to show, and or even from simply answering their students’ questions.

Professor Catherine Lee MBE is Professor of Inclusive Education and Leadership at Anglia Ruskin University. She qualified as a teacher in 1988, and worked in schools for the entire 15 years that Section 28 was in effect.

Professor Catherine Lee was teaching in secondary schools for the entire time that Section 28 was in effect. Image: Joanne Thompson (Image: Joanne Thompson)

“Section 28 has left a damaging legacy for a whole generation of people,” she said. “It wasn’t just for schools, it was for local authorities.

"That meant all funding for things like gay and lesbian youth groups or any sorts of community activities were not allowed. Of course, for all of us who were teachers, we didn’t understand what the wording of Section 28 meant. It was so vague and protracted that all of us who were teachers shut down any conversations with young people around any sort of sexual identity.”

 The clause was overturned in 2003, but many feel that its effects continue to be felt to this day.

“Although we have the privilege of growing up in a post-Section 28 world, we still feel its effects. So much of it is deep-rooted in fear,” said Kate.

“That lack of education has trickled down to younger generations – their parents weren’t able to be educated about LGBTQ+ people, and so they haven’t been able to educate their own children.”

Although Professor Lee stressed that the law specifically referred to sexuality, activist and trans man Lee Carter said that this was an equally fraught time to be a young person questioning their gender.

“I came from a different generation,” he said. “I grew up totally confused in my identity, to a point where I supressed everything; I felt that I couldn’t come out.

“But inside, there was a little boy trapped inside a woman’s body.”

Lee Carter is a transgender activist from Clacton. Image: Lee Carter (Image: Lee Carter)

He can remember the build up to Section 28 being enshrined in law.

“It was a time when people were coming out more, and a lot of people within the LGBTQ community were frustrated, because it felt like discrimination.

“It’s discriminating against someone, removing their freedom to speak about their identity and who they are.

“What happens is that we become extremely affected by that mentally.”

Professor Lee agreed. “A whole generation of young people went through school, never learning about anybody like them in the curriculum, and never hearing their teachers talk about people in same-sex relationships. You can't have a culture that lasts for 15 years without it leaving a legacy.”

Hopefully, things are changing. The current cohort of Pride members said that they are working hard to help LGBTQIA+ people from all ages and walks of life feel comfortable and confident enough to join them.

“We have given them the freedom to do Pride their own way,” said Becki. “There was recognition that we are listening to them, and a sense of camaraderie.”

Luis said that a residential home for elderly people had even contacted the group, to organise a meeting between the Pride members and LGBTQ+ residents.

“It’s so important to learn from those who were here before us,” they said.