Members of DIGON meet every Thursday lunchtime. Sometimes it’s just to talk and be together in a safe space but we also organize lots of different activities, from peer-led workshops on homophobia, heterosexism and gender norms to organizing LGBT+ Rainbow weeks. Our group is really passionate about the power of drama, especially physical and interactive theatre, to communicate difficult to talk about topics and experiences.
DIGON translated into English means 'Enough'.
DIGON is a youth-led school-based anti-homophobic and anti-transphobic bullying group. LISTEN to us here.
WHAT DIGON MEANS TO US
“Creating an inclusive community is at the heart of feeling safe. I feel that the school is a safer environment because of DIGON’s work”
“DIGON has become a safe and comfortable space to experiment with and develop our ideas”
“DIGON has helped us learn how to manage lots of different projects that spread such a brilliant message”
“DIGON has made me realize that my coming out is an irrelevance. My sexuality doesn’t dictate my life, nor does my life dictate my sexuality”
“I have loved talking with primary school pupils, especially because of how open they all are to our ideas and about what we want to achieve in our school with the work that we do in our group”
Digon's ACTivities
Created a script, “Just good friends”, based upon children’s quotes from the research, “Boys and Girls Speak Out”.
Taken up invitations to present at government and practitioner conferences on healthy relationships, gender-based and homophobic bullying, and other LGBT+ events.
Organised Rainbow Weeks during LGBT history month.
Delivered workshops for teachers and students, in primary and secondary schools on friendship; inclusive school cultures; gender norms and homophobic language.
Made a guide on how to address media stereotypes of LGBT+ identities.
Created physical and interactive theatre on anti-homophobic bullying.
Translated Olly Pike's book, "Prince Henry" into Welsh – this is a fairy tale romance which delivers positive messages of both love and equality.
FRIENDS?
a drama about the gendered pressures of young relationships
We had the opportunity to read children’s stories about the pressures of gender norms and how they shape and control boy-girl friendships and young boyfriend girlfriend relationships in the research ‘Boys and Girls Speak Out’.
We wanted to communicate these findings to a wider audience, so we created the play, “Friends?”. One of us wrote the script and our drama teacher helped us bring the script to life in a stage performance. Every line in the play is a direct quote from one of the children in the research. This makes it really powerful when we tell the audience that the play was based on real children’s lives (aged 10, 11 and 12).
The play covers and complicates the issue of gender and sexual bullying. Our main storyline is to challenge societal assumptions that everyone is or will be straight (i.e. heterosexual).
We show how many children are teased or pushed together to couple up as boyfriend and girlfriend just because they hang out or share the same interests. We have performed the play in primary schools, secondary schools and at conferences and events for teachers and policy makers.
“We created a piece of physical theatre to challenge sexist and homophobic banter. Chairs were used functionally (to sit on) and symbolically (as a form of defence and attack).ˮ
