Anna Whitelaw reports on a new Victorian government policy which aims to make schools safer and more welcoming for GLBT young people.

“For years, I was persecuted and abused, verbally and physically,” he recalls. “The teachers knowingly ignored and turned a blind eye to the bullying, and I got blamed for drawing attention to myself. It got to the point where I dropped out of school for six months.”

Mark went to an all boys’ private school, and didn’t come out until he was 21.

“It was an incredibly homophobic environment,” Mark says. “I never felt comfortable admitting I was gay.”

Sadly, Sebastian and Mark’s experiences are by no means unique. Recent research by La Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) has found - despite some positive signs - that adolescence is still a painful rite of passage for many gay and lesbian young people.

The 2006 ARCSHS study Writing It in Again found that young people aged 14 - 21 who are same-sex attracted had significantly higher rates of depression than their heterosexual peers. They were also at greater risk of suicide, with 35 per cent of those surveyed reporting as having contemplated self-harm. Further, many gay and lesbian young people still encountered intolerance, with 44 per cent being on the receiving end of verbal abuse, and 16 per cent being physically assaulted because of their sexuality.

Of such homophobic abuse, the majority of reported incidents - almost 75 per cent - occurred at school.

In an effort to tackle schoolyard bullying and stamp out homophobia, Victoria’s Education Minister, Bronwyn Pike, last week launched a new policy - the first initiative of its kind in Australia - to support same-sex attracted young people within schools.

The policy, Supporting Sexual Diversity in Schools, will be distributed to all Victorian government schools in the coming weeks, and encompasses a wide range of measures, such as banning the use of homophobic language and cracking down on homophobic bullying; recognising and supporting gay and lesbian students as part of the school community (including at school social events such as formals); incorporating themes relating to sexual diversity into the curriculum; and teaching students about sexual orientation as part of sexuality education.

In an interview with MCV, the state’s Education Minister, Bronwyn Pike, said the policy is grounded in anti-discrimination law.

“I think it is one thing for people to be aware of the Equal Opportunity Act, but I believe we have to go further,” she said. “We have to make sure our schools are places where people are respected, and where young people can be free from homophobia and discrimination, and where they can learn to explore their sexuality in an open environment.

“From my perspective it is important that this is about creating a supportive school culture … not just about identifying same-sex attracted young people and creating a special group for them. It is about mainstreaming,” Pike explained.

As part of the policy, the Department of Education has provided online resources for principals, teachers and parents, as well as conducting training for teachers. But while the State Government provides guidelines and will audit schools, it will fall to individual principals to implement the policy. Additionally, Supporting Sexual Diversity in Schools will not affect those Victorian secondary students – more than 30 percent - who attend non-government schools, although non-government and Catholic schools were consulted as part of the development of the broader sexuality education policy.

“Unfortunately, it will be resisted by non-government, especially Catholic schools, but it will hopefully have a trickle down effect,” said Associate Professor Anne Mitchell from Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria, who co-authored the Writing It in Again report.

Shelly Argent, president of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), welcomes the new Victorian policy, but fears it may be ineffectual.

“The governments can put these directives in place, but it is ultimately is up to principals and teachers to implement them. Inevitably, some schools will be very proactive about this, but others will reject it,” Argent said. “What is required is more than just changes in policy, but changes in societal attitudes and thinking. Schools cannot have as much of an influence over children’s attitudes as parents.”

Bronwyn Pike acknowledges that sexuality education is a “shared responsibility” among parents and communities, and that the initiative may be met with opposition from some parents. Nonetheless, she says, “I think schools have taken on responsibility for sex education and values education, and they don’t assume total responsibility; but schools are part of the broader community, and they have a lot of opportunities to engage with young people at a very important stage of their lives, and I think they can be a force for positive things in kids’ lives.”

Anne Mitchell hailed the initiative as “a huge step in the right direction, maybe the biggest step taken so far”.

“Until now, gay and lesbian kids have been invisible,” she says. “While this [policy] may be just words, I don’t think you can underestimate how powerful words can be in this context. It is the first time there has been an official policy explicitly addressing the needs of same-sex attracted young people, instead of ignoring them … [and] whatever the shortcomings of this policy, I don’t think anything should detract from what a cause for celebration this is.”


www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/supportsexualdiversity.pdf

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