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A school headmaster is about to make educational history by coming out as gay to his students and staff via an online assembly on Monday.
Nicholas Hewlett, headmaster of St Dunstan’s College in Catford, southeast London, is set to announce his sexuality and happy marriage to a man after he was inspired by the candour of his pupils.
It is thought that the 41-year-old will be the first acting headmaster to ever publicly declare their sexuality.
Mr Hewlett said he was motivated to come out after a conversation with a student at the exclusive private school who openly discussed their own sexuality with the headteacher. The student who attends the £18,000-per-year school encouraged Mr Hewlett to come forward himself.
“I was so blown away by the courage of him that something flipped in my head,” he said. ”I thought then of my own situation and thought: ‘This is ridiculous. Here I am as a happily married gay man, and the children do not know that at school.’”
The teacher said he hopes the announcement will be received positively and that students might even wave rainbow flags in support.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Hewlett said his only regret was not coming out earlier, “because seven years of children will have gone through the school without the benefit of a role model.”
“The message is simply have the courage to be true to yourself,” he said.
Mr Hewlett married Alberic Elsom, director of music at Whitgift school in Croydon, in 2014. The teacher emphasised that society has come a long way since he was bullied as a young student in the 1990s and when “gay” was used as an insult.
Mr Hewlett said that when he first began his career in education he was warned that his sexuality may hinder his progression.
“Fifteen years ago, I was told by a senior colleague in the school I was then working in that, as an openly gay man, it would be virtually impossible for me to become a headmaster,” he said.
Mr Hewlett cautioned parents and teachers not to “pigeonhole” young children and urged them instead to give youngsters space to explore their sexuality.
The announcement will mark the start of the school’s LGBT+ week and LGBT History Month.
Addressing his decision to go public, the headmaster wrote on Twitter: “If it can help just one young person feel more comfortable in their skin, it is surely an act worth doing.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “We trust teachers and school leaders to make decisions about what’s appropriate to discuss with pupils.
“By the end of secondary education, all pupils should receive teaching on LGBT relationships. Schools are free to determine how they do this.”
The announcement comes after Andrew Moffatt, a gay primary school teacher in Birmingham, received death threats over an initiative he launched at Parkfield Community School to educate children about LGBT+ diversity in 2019.
Mr Moffatt has since released a series of educational resources for his “No Outsiders” project and has written an updated book about the programme.
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