My LGBTQ+ history: flood-risk engineer Catherine Treagus-Mullan

Catherine Treagus-Mullan, Systra Ltd principal flood-risk engineer and a member of CIWEM’s WEM Pride network shares the highs and lows of her LGBTQ+ journey.

February is LGBTQ+ history month. The month is a time to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community while celebrating its achievement and diversity and making it more visible. It’s about 'claiming our past, celebrating our present and creating our future'.

When we talk about history, we often think of events long in the past and far removed from our current life. Yet in the 42 years I have been alive LGBTQ+ rights have changed dramatically.

I was born in 1979, at that point sex between two men over the age of 21 and ‘in private’ had only been decriminalised for 12 years (in England and Wales only, Scotland had to wait until 1980) and homophobia was rife in the UK.

I grew up under the shadow of the AIDS epidemic and can still remember watching that gigantic tombstone appear on TV in the ‘don’t die of ignorance’ advertising campaign. To a young child it was terrifying.

I only heard the words gay, queer, lesbian, homosexual used negatively on TV, in the school playgrounds, on the football terraces (watching the mighty Ipswich Town FC) and from the adults around me.

In 1988 (when I was 9 years old) the UK government passed one of the most damaging pieces of legislation on my lifetime; Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.

The Act stated that a local authority 'shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality' or 'promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'.

This piece of legislation denied me the opportunity to learn about LGBTQ+ history, receive appropriate sexual education and see myself represented in literature/media used in schools. It meant I watched (and endured) homophobic bullying with teachers either feeling like they couldn’t step in or in some cases joining in with the name calling.

I grew up doubting myself, hiding who I was, feeling ashamed and petrified to come out; in fact, until I was 13 years old the World Health Organisation still classified homosexuality as a mental illness. Section 28 remained in place until 2003 (three years after I graduated from university) and consequently impacted all of my formative years in education.

A year after I entered the workplace another massive piece of legislation was passed. The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 made it illegal to discriminate against lesbians, gay and bi people in the workplace.

The following year the Civil Partnership Act 2004 was introduced which finally gave same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as married straight couples in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Unfortunately, I had to wait until the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act officially came into force in 2014 to convert my civil partnership to marriage and I’m still waiting to hear the government’s response to the UK Supreme Court ruling in 2017 that said the discrimination against same-sex couples on pensions rights needs to end immediately.

Thankfully most private-sector pensions and all public-sector pensions treat employees equally, regardless of sexual orientation but until this is law there is always a risk that this may change.

From the moment I was born I have slowly been given rights that most heterosexual people take for granted. I can now get married, be legally recognised on my children’s birth certificates, and I can no longer be fired or refused goods or services based solely on who I love.

My children can attend school and be open and proud of their family, learn about LGBTQ+ history (Alan Turing, Wilfred Owen, Oscar Wilde, Sally Ride, Marsha P Johnson, Anne Lister, Florence Nightingale etc), and feel comfortable and secure enough to be whoever they want and love anyone they want.

I consider myself fortunate for where we are now but recognise there is still a long way to go, not just around the world where many LGBTQ+ people are still persecuted daily, but also in the UK particularly around Trans equality and gender identity.

Keen to continue the conversation? Join our upcoming webinar: Over 50 years of Stonewall: is the WEM LGBTQ+ community visible enough?