A school headmaster has made history this morning by coming out as gay to his students and staff via an online assembly.
Nicholas Hewlett, headmaster of St Dunstan's College in Catford, south east London, announced his sexual orientation and happy marriage to his husband after being motivated by his students.
You can watch the heartwarming address here:
During the address, Nicholas acknowledges all the media attention the school has received leading up to his assembly this morning. He then tells the story of a student named Martin Preston, who attended the school 75 years ago. He eventually became a teacher at the school and lead the religious studies department.
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He was also gay, and the then editor of the Private Eye magazine attempted to expose him. The students rallied around their teacher and went against the social norms to support him back in 1981. They wrote letters to praise their teacher regardless of his sexuality, which according to Nicholas was a different view compared to the headmaster at the time. Martin passed away last month.
Nicholas then says: "These days, St Dunstan's is a place where being gay or having any form of different sexual identity does not carry with it the same stigma, the need for such attention, the need for controversy.
This school has moved forward to such an extent that I, the headmaster, can be comfortable to share with you that I am happily gay and in a same sex relationship."
It is thought to be the first time an acting headteacher has publicly revealed their sexuality to students and staff.
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Nicholas said he was motivated to come out after a conversation with a student at the £18,000-a-year school who openly discussed their own sexuality with him. The student encouraged Nicholas to come forward himself.
He told the Sunday Times: 'Not long ago I was doing interviews with the pupils, and one of them was talking about how comfortable he was about being gay.
"I was so blown away by the courage of him that something flipped in my head.
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"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.'
"There will be kids who are struggling with their own sexuality and who would benefit from knowing that you can be happy and gay, and I have a privileged position to show them that," He added.
Nicholas married Alberic Elsom, the director of music at Whitgift independent school in Croydon, in 2014.
The headteacher said he was bullied during his school years. He said the assembly will be an "emotional start" to the school week, adding that he might cry if he delivered the virtual speech face-to-face.
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He also noted that attitudes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community have changed "astronomically" after revealing how 15 years ago, a senior colleague told him it would be "virtually impossible" to become a headmaster as an openly gay man.
Now he hopes to inspire young people to "have the courage to be true to yourself", adding: "Sexuality should never be a barrier to success or happiness".
Featured Image Credit: St Dunstan’s College/YouTube