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NEWS FROM SCHOOLS OUT AND THE LGBT COMMUNITY Fondation Émergence launches its 2012 campaign International Day Against Homophobia
May 17
Participate! This day belongs to YOU! Anti-Homophobic film makers win Diana AwardAnti-Bullying Champions praised with Diana Award The Magna Carta School is delighted to announce that Duncan Lewry, Charlotte Hewitt, Hannah Wells, Cara Houghton and Molly Russell have been publicly honored with the Diana Award for their groundbreaking film Homophobia - Our Closeted Education. The Diana Award was established in 1999 as a legacy to Diana, Princess of Wales’ belief that young people have the power to change the world. The Award exists to celebrate young people who support others and strive to improve their communities. 36,000 inspirational young people have received the Diana Award for demonstrating the qualities associated with the late Princess – compassion and a selfless commitment to improving the lives of others. These 5 students are all studying the Creative and Media Diploma which is an intensive course part of the 14-19 Runnymede and Elmbridge network. They were expected to produce a film for one of the units and after extensive research, interviews with people who were victims of homophobic bullying, talking to teachers and students & interviews with Stonewall and Schools-out they have put together a compelling and emotive 10 minute documentary which has really hit home to students and staff across the county about the need for change. To read the full press release click hereOldham based Theatre Company making waves Nationally, still largely ignored in home town.Pink Triangle Theatre, who are officially two years old today, would like to share with you the monitoring results of our very recent performances / workshops at Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury. A bold and pro-active school who decided to tackle homophobia by having every single student and teacher watch our show and take part in our discussion workshops.The feedback and monitoring results speak for themselves. Pink Triangle Theatre founder and director Paul Burgess said - "I still find it incredible that not one single school in our home town of Oldham, where homophobia is well documented as a constant and growing problem, has ever even replied to correspondence from us, let alone come to see one of the many free shows we have set up specifically for them in the town" We also find that our emails to all Oldham Councillors are rarely, if ever, responded to, and are sometimes even being deleted without being read" Jason Bromely, husband of Paul Burgess and co-founder / director added - "It would be wonderful if schools in Oldham were more proactive, as oppose to reactive. Young LGBT people continue to suffer, often in silence, with little help or support as Ofsted announce new measures to monitor and ensure schools cater for LGBT students and tackle issues. We can not sit back and wait for the next horrific attack or worse to happen in Oldham, before schools are spurred into action''. WoodGreenYr7
Tackling homophobia in schools I became actively involved in LGBT (which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans) work in 2005 as a direct result of challenging the widespread homophobia in my school by co-ordinating LGBT History Month. From very small beginnings of an assembly and a year 7 LGBT music scheme of work the project has grown into a national strategy called "Educate and Celebrate". This is a one-day program I devised for educators to give practical advice, confidence, resources, policies and lesson plans to make their own schools LGBT friendly. Since opening our school as a Diversity Training Centre for teachers, we have caused a lot of media attention and have been recognised by Ofsted as a centre of best practice for successfully challenging homophobic bullying. I am very keen to dispel the myth that LGBT inclusion in the curriculum causes more work for teachers, in fact what we found was that the LGBT content was already there, we were just not emphasizing the "LGBTness" of our projects. For instance the humanities department were studying the treatment of the Jewish people in the prisoner of war camps, so we extended the project to include the treatment of LGBT people. The music department were performing the songs of Joan Armatrading but not highlighting the fact she was a black lesbian singer/songwriter. Art were already studying Keith Haring, Grayson Perry and Frida Kahlo, who all fit perfectly in to our LGBT history month celebrations each February. The first actions we took at Stoke Newington School, in north Londion, were to create a sanction for homophobia, train the staff, put up relevant display, develop an LGBT curriculum, invite role models to perform and create a united ethos of challenging homophobic language. The idea is not to confront students with LGBT issues but to seep LGBT people into their consciousness through inclusive lesson plans along with simply giving young people the facts. The reason students laugh and giggle and use words in a derogatory manner is because they don't know what they mean. After they know the facts, they use the words in the correct way. We have lots of conversations about, "Is it legal to be a lesbian?" Some kids don't actually know if it's legal or not, so it is up to us as educators to inform them. Also many times I hear "Is it legal to get married?", "Can gays adopt children?", "How do lesbians have children?" The importance of LGBT History month and building awareness are vital to creating a cohesive community. If there's nothing in the curriculum that represents LGBT people then what role models are there for those young LGBT people in our school? Our curriculum must reflect our community – the same goes for all the equality strands. Through working with other schools and teachers across the UK, I have built many links with other organisations and spoken at many events. These include the TUC, LGCM, DFE, Foreign Office, ABA, NSPCC, DFID, London borough Councils, GEO and Goldsmiths University along with attending LGBT professionals' events at Downing Street. I have taken my students to perform and present LGBT work from our curriculum with a view to educate and encourage everyone to take part in LGBT History month and reap the benefits of an enlightened and safe environment in which to work and thrive. It is this outward facing work that empowers all educators to deliver confident LGBT lessons with the added knowledge of the legal back-up that underpins the diversity work within the curriculum. It is essential that our schools curriculum reflects the community we live in; LGBT people are part of our community. We have reached a point where we have happy "out" staff and "out" students who are NOT bullied – this is our evidence of success. This year we held a Mini-pride march and a concert as part of our celebrations, you can watch the video here. You can download a really interesting teaching pack written by Schools Out on the Guardian Teacher Network: Tackling homophobia and creating safer spaces. And lesson plans for all key stages and all subjects can be found in the classroom section of the Schools Out website PSU Probing Question: How Important is Coming Out of the Closet?by Gant Daily What is life like for young gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered people in our nation today? Your impression might depend on which news report you happen to catch. Stories reporting on Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in conservative school districts, high-profile legal victories for gay people and their advocates and even gay teens becoming Prom Queen, suggest the nation is becoming more accepting of less traditional sexual and gender identities. Other stories about “gay bashing” hate crimes and teens being bullied to the point of despair point to a different side of America. Is it really any easier for youth to come out as gay today? “Absolutely,” says Anthony D’Augelli, professor of Human Development at Penn State. “The increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people helps youth come out, and they come out to families and friends who are much more knowledgeable than earlier generations.” For some young people, deciding whether to come out or remain closeted depends on family support, adds Allison Subasic, Director of Penn State’s LGBTA (the “A” is for Allies) Student Resource Center. It’s getting easier overall, she agrees, but “but it is still difficult for many youth for a variety of reasons, including where they live, and whether their family is involved with a religion that is not affirming of LGBT individuals.” Says D’Augelli, “It’s important to remember that a family learning about a gay son or lesbian daughter will likely be surprised (though not always) and it will take them time and supportive resources to figure out how to be helpful. For LGBT youth, having one or two very trusted family members and friends seems critical to taking the first steps. These are the life preservers for someone swimming in unchartered waters.” Given all the potential risks involved, why come out at all? The possible costs are very real, says D’Augelli, who calls the verbal bullying of LGBT youth in schools “pervasive,” adding that kids “often report that school professionals do not intervene.” A recent study of school climate nationally found that 84 percent of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40 percent reported being physically harassed and 19 percent reported being physically assaulted during the school year because of their sexual orientation. More subtle hostility—dubbed microaggression—such as hearing the expression “that’s so gay” on a regular basis, can negatively impact LGBT youth, even those with stronger self-esteem, reminds Subasic. Despite these challenges, the overall societal picture is continually and quickly improving for LGBT youth, says D’Augelli. “There is no evidence at all that suicides linked to sexual identity are increasing, and my guess is that they are in fact decreasing. They are very, very rare,” he adds. “For the few who feel that hopeless and despondent, a campaign like ‘It Gets Better’ is very helpful.” (The project includes over 25,000 encouraging video messages, including from President Obama, viewed 40 million times.) “There’s no doubt that coming out is a crucial event for LGBT youth,” notes D’Augelli. “Our research suggests that coming out is a major mental health booster. It takes a lot of psychological energy to hide your fundamental self from other people. Coming out lifts a veil of secrecy and can be exhilarating. It also helps the person meet other LGBT people and feel less isolated.” It’s common for LGBT people to report feeling alone when they become aware of their sexual and gender identities, explains D’Augelli. “They think that there are no other people like them. National Coming Out Day (NCOD) proves otherwise.” The reason for NCOD, an annual occurrence on October 11th since 1989, says D’Augelli, “is to celebrate courage and strength, provide an opportunity for LGBT people to tell their stories, and demonstrate support for those who are still struggling or questioning.” That support appears to be having an impact, notes Subasic. “Compared to ten years ago, many more students are coming to college ‘out and proud’ and want to know what universities have to offer them and how gay-friendly the campus climate is. In fact, parents now call colleges and ask about resources for their LGBT children when evaluating a university.” More than ever, we’re realizing that heterosexual allies are critical for LGBT people, especially the youth, says D’Augelli. “Anyone who attends the NCOD rally, for instance, is ‘coming out’ as being willing to take a stand for human rights and social justice,” he notes. “And what more basic right is there than to be able to be yourself?” Melissa Beattie-Moss, Research Penn State Mother Says It Would Have Been ‘Child Abuse’ To Make Transgendered Daughter Live As A BoyWell finally one parent puts raising a transgendered child into proper perspective. Saffron James has accepted the gender dysphoria in her 10-year-old daughter Livvy James who returned to school this autumn as a girl. She says that asking her daughter to continue to live as a boy would be the equivalent of “child abuse.” Although Saffron and her husband had long since accepted Livvy’s conventionally feminine tendencies in the home, they asked her to dress as a boy to maintain a certain safety at school. But Saffron began to see that asking her daughter to maintain a dual identity was taking an emotional, as well as a physical, toll on the child:
Saffron insists that Livvy ultimately made the decision to return to school as a girl and do away with her “cover” as a boy. In defending her choice as a parent, she tells Daily Mail:
Parents frequently defend their decision to uphold their child’s biological gender identity for the child’s well-being. While such efforts may quell teasing at school and scorn from certain parents, people rarely speak about how asking a transgendered child to maintain a fake, or in these case dual, identity can negatively impact their mental health and development. No parent wants to see their children victimized by bullies, but asking them to conceal who they are could possibly do even more damage. Whole story at Mommyish.com Schools Minister Condemns Negative Use of the Word ‘Gay’ Schools Minister Nick Gibb has attacked the use of the word ‘gay’ as a codeword for dysfunctional in our schools. At an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) meeting he told the audience: “The negative use of the word gay is unacceptable. It is homophobic bullying and must be stopped.” Read what Schools OUT has to say
Cameron and Milliband support for LGBT History Month Both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have given their support for LGBT History month. This gives our work on the subject of history and equality in schools a massive boost. Read what they had to say:
Working for LGBT Equality: Moving Forward Government Equalities Office LGBT work plan and Sports Charter to counter homophobia and transphobia |
