Jennifer Juan was 11 when she started to realise she felt different to other children her age.

She was 14 when she realised she was a lesbian.

She's now 30, but such is the stigma she's felt over the years, it was only last year that she finally came out to her mum.

For a long time, she thought it was a secret she would never share. But as the Bob Dylan song goes, the times they are a-changing'.

Jennifer says that from a young age, it was made clear to her that being "straight" was the only normal thing.

The LGBTQ+ community representation on TV was either made a joke of or perceived as evil.

She said: "I used to resign myself to the fact that I was going to keep this a secret forever."

On the estate where she grew up – Horton Kirby, near Dartford – everybody knew each other.

Rumours spread quickly, as they do anywhere, and this led to Jennifer feeling panicked and worried.

She said: "There were a couple of people who were rumoured to be gay and were denying it because they would get bullied otherwise.

"There was one girl who said 'I am a lesbian' and she would get bullied all the time and nobody could do anything."

Teachers were unable to help because Section 28 legislation – which prohibited local authorities promoting homosexuality – would not allow it at that time. The law was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party and ran from 1988 to 2000.

School became an environment where Jennifer felt she could not be her authentic self out of fear of what might happen to her.

Charity Stonewall – which stands up for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere – conducts numerous surveys to examine how people feel, and are treated by others.

The Stonewall School Report of 2017 looked specifically at young people. A survey was conducted of 3,713 aged 11-19 who were part of the LGBT community between November 2016 and February 2017.

They completed a questionnaire and the key findings were:

• Nearly half of LGBT pupils (45%) – including 64% of trans pupils – are bullied for being LGBT in Britain’s schools. This is down from 55% of lesbian, gay and bi pupils who experienced bullying because of their sexual orientation in 2012 and 65% in 2007 .
• Half of LGBT pupils hear homophobic slurs "frequently" or "often" at school, down from seven in 10 in 2012.
• Seven in 10 LGBT pupils reported that their school said that homophobic and biphobic bullying was wrong, up from half in 2012 and a quarter in 2007. However, just two in five LGBT pupils reported that their schools said that transphobic bullying was wrong.
• Just one in five LGBT pupils had been taught about safe sex in relation to same-sex relationships
• More than four in five trans young people had self-harmed, as had three in five lesbian, gay and bi young people who aren’t trans.
• More than two in five trans young people had attempted to take their own life, and one in five lesbian, gay and bi students who aren’t trans had done the same.

Even after the legislation was repealed, Kent County Council brought in its own version of the law.

For years after that, Jennifer made sure she never publicly had a girlfriend.

She made some progress when she set off for university, as she could finally see people who were just like her.

She said: "I went to a freshers' fair and saw that they had a gay and lesbian society. I thought, 'oh my god, you guys have this in the open?

"So I got really brave for a second."

Prompted by her university experience, at the age of 18 she revealed her sexuality to someone close to her.

But that bravery soon turned into regret because they really struggled with what she was saying.

Jennifer said: "I think they weren't ready to be OK with it. I think for them it was just 'this is wrong, people aren't supposed to do that'."

Thrown by the reaction, she did not tell her mum until she was 29.

In the end, after years of holding in feelings, the way she came out to her mum was via a six-minute "dramatic" voice note explaining everything.

She said: "I told her I was sorry that I couldn't tell her before, and that I'd been keeping it a secret for a long time because I couldn't accept myself.

"Also, that I was really struggling to live a lie any longer and wanted to be honest with her."

Things couldn't have been more different from her revelation years earlier. Jennifer said: "It turns out she knew the whole time but apparently didn't want to pressure me."

She then finally came out to everyone, despite her previous plan to hide her identity forever.

Jennifer said: "The response from people since I came out properly has mainly been positive.

"The only negative response I can think of were a few friends, who have come round with time."

She also said she had some creepy messages and difficult comments made on social media.

Repressing her identity had been a challenge and it had started to take a toll on her mental health.

A couple of years earlier, Jennifer went to her doctor because her family started to notice she was feeling down all the time.

The doctor put her on a six-week therapy course but that proved unsuccessful.

She said: "I talked about everything but my sexuality, which was the one thing that was making me feel like this so it wasn't very helpful because I couldn't open up about it."

Jennifer said she continued to feel ashamed of something that was intrinsic and unchangeable.

The singer and writer said: "I didn't really understand what it was called and what was wrong with me.

"I used to think there was some horrible accident and I was meant to come out as a boy and not a girl."

But times are indeed changing, and earlier this month, Dartford welcomed its first ever Pride Festival, bringing a celebration of LGBTQ+ right to Jennifer's doorstep.

She said: "Dartford having it's own Pride means that it's a place that feels more like home for me.

"I don't feel like I am on the outside as much now and it makes me hopeful for the future."

She emphasised that things are still not perfect and there should be recognition for the pain caused over the years during and after Section 28.

She said: "I am not asking for much, I'm just asking for some acknowledgement.

"I think it will help people get closure and to know that there is nothing wrong with them."

The festival, on July 2, was organised by Dartford council and The Orchard Theatre.

It was a celebration of Dartford's LGBTQ+ community with live music and drag club nights.

Council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite said: "It has long been our ambition to bring the sounds, spirit and fun of Pride to Dartford. There’s so much to celebrate and we’d like this to become another permanent fixture in our calendar.”