Paul Patrick

Paul Patrick (23 July 1950, South Shields - 22 May 2008, Burnley) was an English teacher and leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist. He was openly gay and focused on homophobia in the public and voluntary sectors, particularly in the education system.

Patrick attended South Shields Grammar School but moved to Burnley at the age of fifteen and attended Burnley Grammar before going to Phillipa Fawcett College, London (a college of the University of London) where he studied English and drama.

He came out in 1969 and went on to become a teacher in 1972 at the Roger Manwood School, Lewisham. He became Head of Drama and a member of the teachers’ advisory panel for Greenwich Young People’s Theatre in Education Company and worked with the teachers and advisors who produced the Inner London Education Authority’s "Drama Bulletin."

In 1976, he co-founded the Lewisham Association for Multicultural Education. In 1983, he became the Equal opportunities Officer for the school he had just helped into amalgamation as a member of the Crofton School Advisory Team. While continuing to teach English and Drama, he became the co-ordinator for a project bringing adults with learning disabilities into the school to use the facilities and work with pupils. This work was recognised by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) who appointed him an advisor for equal opportunities in the areas of Expressive Arts, particularly Drama & Theatre Studies, PHSE and the pastoral curriculum. Soon he was co-opted to the Relationships and Sexuality Project and was a member of its steering group, became the Multi-ethnic Inspectorate representative on the Authority's P.H.S.E. Advisory panel, a member of the Authority's video panel. He also worked with the ILEA publishing section to produce materials, videos and guidelines for teachers. This was until the abolition of the ILEA in 1990 when he returned to teaching English and Drama at Crofton School.

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