41-year-old Nick Hewlett, the headteacher of St Dunstan’s College in Catford, South London, came out as gay to his students in an online video message, making him the first headteacher in the UK to do so. His video was delivered to around 700 students, where he said he is “happily married and gay”, having tied the knot with Alberic Elsom, director of music at Whitgift School in Croydon, in 2014. He was inspired to publicly come out after a conversation with a gay student, where Hewlett was “blown away” by his courage to embrace his identity.
Hewlett told Sky News that he hopes his openness will inspire other LGBTQ+ students: “Here I am, a happily married gay man, and alright some students might know this, but the vast majority probably don’t, why wouldn’t I share it with them, why wouldn’t I be open about that? I felt strongly it could well help some students.” He suspects there are very few out gay headteachers, because they were “conditioned by the upbringing and environment in schools in the nineties”.
He continued: “As a society we have moved on a lot. The difference is astronomic in terms of where we were and where we are now. But we haven’t moved on that much because this is still news… the very fact this is news tells you a story.” He also said he feels “hugely emotive” about the online message he will be sending to pupils: “I feel strongly that if the students feel they can be courageous about it then why shouldn’t I too?”