Sean Russell

I’m a bit unusual as my sexual orientation is at the heart of my work, but it wasn’t always the case: I’ve done my time in the closet. As the founder of Get Out Stay Out (www.getoutstayout.org.uk) I work with universities as a freelance LGBTQ consultant, including the University of Birmingham and as such I am an Associate Member of the Rainbow Network.  My connection with the University goes back fifteen years when I came to Birmingham as Director of the Careers Service. I have also worked here for HEFi and as an executive coach. I worked in the travel industry and taught in secondary schools for a number of years. I am chair of governors at my local primary school, where I am also out as a gay man. I set up the LGBT Student Mentoring scheme for the University in partnership with the Guild and Careers Network seven years ago, then as a consultant on the LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum Project. I’m now delivering workshops for the recently-launched LGBTQ Allies scheme. I have been involved with LGBTQ networks and in and around Birmingham since I moved here.

I do the job I do because I have been in and out of the professional closet for years and I got to a point where I had had enough of juggling my various identities and dodging questions. My journey can be summed up as: not a clue what I was when I was at school, out at university (and big-time as students union president), back in the closet as a teacher (except everyone knew – apparently). On leaving teaching, I received the only complaint I had from a parent when I eventually came out; she wished I’d done it earlier as her kids would have gained from it.

I’d had enough of the darkness and the dizziness of the revolving door of the closet, so when I started work in university careers services I came out to colleagues in about 10 seconds flat which led to running workshops for LGBT students and trying to set up an LGBT Network, the latter unsuccessfully. As the head of HR at that particular university said: ‘we’re very tolerant in universities, it’s not needed’. Glad to report, 20 years on, things are different, though not at all universities. However, at Birmingham, it’s much, much better.

Personally, I think every LGBTQ person who is out, especially those in positions of influence,  has a duty to be visibly out to give confidence to those not so lucky and that’s why I’m so pleased to join others writing a profile. It’s about saying to current and potential staff, students and contractors, it’s OK to be LGBTQ.  It’s about saying to non-LGBTQ people, it’s still a thing, there’s work to be done: find out how you can be effective allies. I love the range of roles represented on these pages and also the seniority of some of these staff. Those role models show LGBTQ people can progress professionally like everyone else. In a perfect world, my work and that of the Rainbow Network will be redundant, but we’re not there yet.