Alderney is part of the Channel Islands and held a Pride event last week. It was the second time that the island, which is just three miles long and 2 and a half miles long, held a Pride event. Around 100 people took part in a parade and then there was a disco in the local community centre, which you can see in the picture above. The organisers said, "Alderney is very accepting. There's a lot of community spirit."
However, not everyone understands about equality and pride, as this letter shows, which was sent to a gay couple on the island after they appeared on the local news channel. Mr Preece and his husband received the letter you can see above. The letter says that seeing the couple on TV, "put me and my husband and grandson off our tea. My grandson asked why that man had his hand around the other one. A couple is a man and a woman and always will be. You looked like a joke. Try being in a circus."
Mr Preece showed the letter to friends and a group called "Liberate" decided to share the letter and ask people to write to Mr Preece in response to the first letter he received.
To support this gesture, Guernsey Post have organised a free postal address for the couple. So now anyone can write a replacement letter to the couple.
If you want to write a letter, the address is;
Mr Preece
Freepost
Alderney
GY9 3XD
- what is Pride?
- how do you think Mr Preece and his husband felt being interviewed on local TV together to celebrate Pride?
- how do you think they felt when they opened the letter?
- why do you think someone wrote that letter?
- "My grandson asked why that man had his hand around the other one." If her grandson did ask that, what could Granny have said in reply?"
- "A couple is a man and a woman and always will be." What is the letter writer's understanding of different families?
-"Try being in a circus." - What does this quote suggest the writer thinks about different families?
- How can we help people to understand about diversity and difference and different families?
- Look at the punctuation in the letter - what else does the writer need support in understanding? (where to put capital letters and full stops).
- why do you think people are asking for replacement letters to be sent to Mr Preece?
- why do you think Guernsey Post Office has set up a Freepost address for letters - what does this show about Guernsey Post and their attitude to diversity and difference?
- what can we learn from Mr Preece, Liberate group and from Guernsey Post? Can we learn anything from the person who write the original letter?
- why is this about No Outsiders?
www.no-outsiders.com
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