Blog
407 years of pride
We’re celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, by looking back at one of England’s greatest writers, William Shakespeare.
Choice Support works with many people, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. It is important to recognise this community not only spans the globe but can also be found throughout history. William Shakespeare is one of England’s greatest treasures, our language and entertainment would not be what it is today without his influence. Did you know people have been debating his sexuality for years?
Shakespeare's sonnets stand out as evidence towards his bisexuality because of the passion he wrote them with. For him to bring forth such raw emotion, so much so that his words can affect readers centuries past his death, it is likely he was drawing on personal experience. Of Shakespeare’s 154 known sonnets, many scholars have agreed the first 126 are written about the same man.
William Shakespeare's willingness to display so much of himself in his work could tell us that he was proud to be bisexual. And why wouldn't he be? Though attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community were harsh during his time, we now recognise that there is nothing wrong with being bisexual, gay, transgender, asexual, pansexual, or nonbinary. Despite what would have been said during his time, Shakespeare recognised this too. It would be nice to hope that he inspired the people around him as much as he can inspire us today to take pride in ourselves, our lives, our work, and our sexualities.
As an organisation with inclusion and belonging at its core, Choice Support has been involved with several initiatives promoting awareness and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community. The best way for us to support the LGBTQ+ community, is to have LGBTQ+ support workers, find our jobs board below if this is something you would be interested in.