Rob Workman was recently invited to participate in the ‘Ours to Tell’ project with Amgueddfa Cymru.
For Pride Month, Rob has written a blog that explores the intersectionality between his identities as a gay man and as an occupational therapist.
We are grateful for Rob's reflection. If you'd like to hear more from Rob, he will be part of our opening plenary – The future of occupational therapy – at this year's Annual Conference on Wednesday 12–Thursday 13 June 2024.
If you haven't got your ticket yet, you can still join us.
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Calon (Heart)
I’m Rob Workman and I’m a gay man who is also and OT. Or am I an OT who is also a gay man?
It’s difficult to decide which aspect of my life is most important to me as I believe that they are inextricably linked.
Both of these facets were highlighted when, in 2016, I joined my workplace’s LGBTQ+ & Allies Staff Network. The first task with which I was faced was naming the network. My suggestion was ‘Calon’, this means ‘Heart’ in Welsh.
This word has many connotations – love, sexuality, health, resilience, courage and, most importantly to me, it signifies the innermost core of a person. Calon is their identity, which will impact on how that person interacts with their environment and how their environment interacts with them. One of the foundations on which the OT profession has been built.
‘Calon’, therefore, is a word that beautifully illustrates these interwoven aspects of my life – my identity as a gay man and my identity as an OT.Since joining Calon, I have strived to be a role model to LGBTQ+ colleagues by taking action to increase visibility, coordinating attendance at events within the workplace and in the wider community and donating Calon memorabilia to the LGBTQ+ collection at Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum of Wales).
Ours to Tell (Ein Lleisiau Ni)
As a result of my previous links with Amgueddfa Cymru, I was invited to participate in the ‘Ours to Tell’ project.
Due to a history of marginalisation and criminalisation, authentic LGBTQ+ voices are largely absent from history books so the ‘Ours to Tell’ project aims to collect as many stories as possible from the diverse members of the LGBTQ+ community in Wales.
I jumped at the chance to speak about my experiences as a gay man and to give a voice (literally, as the sessions were digitally recorded) to the LGBTQ+ community that will be available for reference for many years to come.
Of course it was important to me to include my role as an OT in my discussion as it is such an integral aspect of who I am.
Each participant in the project was also invited to donate a personal object to be included in the collection. Once again it was my link to OT that was important to highlight so my donation was an RCOT Pride badge as it represents two of the most important aspects of my life, my identity as an OT and my identity as a gay man.
To advertise the Ours to Tell project a small selection of participants were chosen to feature in an exhibition at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. I was surprised and honoured to be included in the exhibition, especially as it is on display in the area where I live and work, further increasing the visibility of LGBTQ+ lives, and of the OT profession, in my own community.
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Thanks to Rob for sharing his story!
If you'd like to engage with more Pride content from the OT community, please check out our Pride page.
You may be interested in our Head of Inclusion and Involvement, Savania China's, blog on LGBTQ+ allyship.