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# BAFTA-nominated film inspiration to speak at LGBT+ History Month event tomorrow
- URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/bafta-nominated-film-inspiration-to-speak-at-lgbt-history-month-event/
- Published: 2025-02-10T16:43:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-16T15:22:14.000Z
- Description: A leading academic will share her personal experiences of living under discriminatory legislation as a lesbian teacher in Suffolk and how those challenges led to her involvement in an acclaimed British film.
- Author: Oliver Rouane-Williams
- Tags: News, Events & Things To Do, #article, The Hold, #Import 2026-03-16 14:45

**Why it matters:** The talk offers firsthand insight into how Section 28 – legislation that banned the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities from 1988 to 2003 – affected LGBT+ teachers in UK schools and continues to influence cultural conversations today.

![The Hold in Ipswich](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/03/1738886393-the-hold-8.jpg)

The free event will take place at The Hold on Thursday, 13 February Photo: Oliver Rouane-Williams (Ipswich.co.uk)

**The details:** Professor Catherine Lee MBE will speak at The Hold, home to the Suffolk Archives, on Thursday, 13 February, from 18:30 to 19:30.

Lee, now Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, will draw on her book, Pretended, to discuss teaching during a period when local authorities were prohibited from discussing LGBT+ issues in a positive light.

**Background:** Before her current role in higher education, Lee worked as a schoolteacher in both Liverpool and Suffolk during the Section 28 era, when thousands of LGBT+ teachers faced significant professional challenges.

**What to expect:** The professor will:

- Share personal recollections of teaching in Suffolk schools under restrictive legislation
- Discuss the wider impact on LGBT+ teachers during this period
- Reveal how these experiences contributed to the 2022 BAFTA-nominated feature film Blue Jean
- Describe how this "unexpected opportunity provided the silver lining to the adversity she experienced during Section 28"

**The bottom line:** The event is being hosted by [Outreach Youth](https://www.ipswich.co.uk/tag/outreach-youth/) as part of LGBT+ History Month. It is free to attend and anyone is welcome. No booking is required.

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