In response to research by the School of Education in Dublin City University showing that nearly four out of five teachers surveyed were aware of instances of homophobic bullying in their school, the Equality Authority and the BeLong To youth service are to launch a campaign targeting the problem today.

"Research has shown very widespread and high levels of homophobic bullying in post-primary schools," says Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority. "It is important that we respond to that and seek to eliminate the problem, while responding to the needs of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in a way that they have led and directed.

"We think that schools will be really appreciative of the campaign. It's not a campaign of complaining, it's about giving the school authorities practical help in targeting this problem."

KEITH Phillips once told his teacher he would die for the right "to be himself".

The Year 10 Alexandra Hills State High School student is openly gay and says Year 12 students have bullied and taunted him with verbal abuse.

Yesterday Keith, 15, missed school because of a warning of possible violence.

Keith's mother Trudy Lillicrap said the school had called her on Thursday night asking her to ensure Keith took the next day off because the school had received information his safety was under threat from a group of Year 12 students.

I think that Alexandra Hills State High School has seriously failed in their role, for duty of care.

The school is yet to adress the issue with any students, the police were called into the school because of "food throwing" that day. What do we think that food throwing is more of an offence then threatening to "bash the crap" out of a student?

Are we raising our children and setting society up for a massive fight at the end of every year 12. The boys that threatened this have gotten of "scott-free" there were no reprocussions for their actions. They were shown that obviously the Education Department and the Education Minister deem it acceptable for this type of behaviour to occur not only in the schoolyard but also in the "real world" when they leave school. And by the Education Department and Minister deeming this as acceptable what else will they deem acceptable on behalf of our "Smart State" bashing students because you are bored, because they looked at you once.

Obviously this is ridiculous that students should be allowed to make these "threats" and actually plan to carry them out, and because it's the end of the year they are let off.... In the workplace are you allowed to run around and bash people because it's their last day.

I think more should be done, because frankly this is clearly unnaceptable.

(and yes I am the student in the article)

Gay Bristol Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams, has produced a YouTube video about homophobic bullying as the party highlights its campaign during anti-bullying week.

Mr Williams uses the video to discuss the unique aspects of homophobic bullying and calls on people to support the Liberal Democrat campaign against it.

The Lib Dems are campaigning for homophobic taunts and name calling in schools to be challenged immediately by staff, for anti-bullying policies to include measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying and for at least one teacher in every school should undergo training which includes how to tackle homophobic bullying.

COMMENT: Gay adults must challenge homophobic teachers



The piece is much longer than my excerpt and is worth reading in its entirety.

I would underscore the author's last point. It might, from an assimilationist point of view, be the responsibility of adult gays "to give help, support and advice to younger people". I don't have an assimilationist point of view, so I would point out that we have a duty to defend, aid, and support gay youth.

I have commented before (though I would certainly forgive one and all if they happened to miss it) on the "generation gap" that exists between gay youth and adults. It should come as no surprise that there are differing opinions between generations.



Our youth have time and time again demonstrated that their number one priority is discrimination -- discrimination as they face it every day. The adults seem to have gotten it in their heads that their fight for civil rights would eventually "trickle down" into the schools where our youth spend the bulk of their waking hours. I think it's likely that our youth is "unaware of decades of prior activism by LGBT adults" precisely because it has been so completely without effect in their day-to-day realities -- which is the only place that matters. It's about time some real efforts were made to achieve real results, and not in a handful of test cases, but across the board.

Dressell helped organize Saturday's Safer School Summit at County College of Morris for 65 parents, students and educators to start a conversation about how to stop harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths in Morris County area schools.

MONTREAL -- A report done for the Quebec Human Rights Commission says gays and lesbians still encounter discrimination at school, in the workplace and at home.

It comes after Quebec’s justice minister asked the commission in June 2005 to create a task force to draw up a list of problems created by homophobia.

Marc-Andre Dowd, the vice-chairman of the provincial agency, says Quebec is not a homophobic society, but homophobia still exists in the province.

He says traces of homophobia continue to show up in a number of areas, including education, social and health services, justice, and public security.

The commission has called on the province to create a policy on homophobia and to designate a minister to be responsible for its implementation.

It’s particularly worried about young gay or bisexual males who are many times more likely to have suicidal tendencies than young male heterosexuals.

Surely Quebec is not the first?

I really shall look forward to reading this policy.

I started a thread on the Québec campaign against homophobia over on bread and roses, on its own thread. I'm copying the press release here, as I think it is an important initiative:

Pour votre information (de la Fédération des femmes du Québec). (When I copied it, there was no CNW/Telbec release in English, though there may be by now).

*****

Les communautés gaie et lesbienne (LGBT) satisfaites des recommandations de la CDPJ - Le gouvernement du Québec doit adopter une politique nationale de lutte contre l'homophobie et les partis politiques doivent prendre position

MONTREAL, le 6 mars /CNW Telbec/ - Les communautés gaie et lesbienne (LGBT) québécoises accueillent avec enthousiasme les recommandations de la Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse(CDPJ) visant à combattre l'homophobie, rendues publiques aujourd'hui lors d'une conférence de presse tenue à Montréal.

La sortie du rapport "De l'égalité juridique à l'égalité sociale" est l'aboutissement des travaux de réflexions d'un groupe de travail composé de représentants des communautés LGBT et de représentants de la fonction publique dans les secteurs d'activités concernés.

A l'instar des communautés culturelles, les communautés gaie, lesbienne et celles des autres diversités sexuelles apportent un enrichissement collectif à la société. Longtemps isolées et invisibles, elles sortent de l'ombre et aspirent à l'égalité sociale.

L'homophobie est avant tout une attitude empreinte de préjugés et d'ignorance. A juste titre, pour lui faire la lutte, la CDPJ propose des mesures de redressement, de sensibilisation, d'éducation et de formation. Nos communautés soutiennent les recommandations contenues dans ce rapport, dont principalement

- l'adoption d'une politique nationale de lutte contre l'homophobie;

- la désignation d'un ministre responsable de la "condition homosexuelle et des autres diversités sexuelles";

- la mise en place d'une structure administrative responsable de l'application de la politique;

- l'affectation des ressources nécessaires à la mise en place de la politique.

Il est connu que les formations politiques de Québec sont sympathiques à l'idée de mettre fin aux discriminations et de combattre l'homophobie. Les communautés LGBT demandent à toutes les formations politiques de prendre position en faveur des conclusions du rapport "De l'égalité sociale à l'égalité juridique" et de s'engager à adopter une Politique nationale de lutte contre l'homophobie.

Source: http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/March2007/06/c7446.html

- adoption of a national policy to fight against homophobia;

- designation of a minister responsible for promoting the well-being of homosexuals and sexual diversitiy";

- the installation of an administrative structure responsible for the application of the policy;

- the resource allocation necessary to ensure the installation of the policy.

TALLAHASSEE — A bill intended to curb bullying at public schools is once again becoming a lightning rod for Florida lawmakers' views on homosexuality.

Several students who came to Tallahassee this week on behalf of the "Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Students Act," were told by one lawmaker that they needed psychological treatment because they're gay.

The bill named for a Cape Coral teenager who killed himself in 2005 after being bullied at school would define "bullying" and direct schools to set up clear rules for how to handle threatening behavior.

But a group of students called the Florida Safe Schools Coalition implored a House committee Tuesday to include specific protections for gay students.

The bill defines "sexual, religious or racial harassment" as bullying, but makes no mention of sexual orientation.

A teacher uses class time to talk about how specific LGBT students are going to hell.

A security guard calls an LGBT student a “faggot” within earshot of school administrators, who do nothing about it. The student subsequently drops out.

An LGBT teacher is reprimanded for using his school’s video system to disseminate information about the Gay-Straight Alliance.

Lambda Legal Regional Director Dennis Coleman, a member of the committee, said DISD is not legally required to implement the policy.

However, if it does not, it runs the risk of lawsuits from those who are discriminated against, he said. “The school district has been very lucky,” Coleman said.

The committee says schools should be forced to record all instances of bullying, including detailing those related to race, faith, disability or homophobia. The lack of reliable data is a barrier to more effective anti-bullying work, say the MPs, who want the government to commission long-term research into trends and evidence of which approaches worked.

Though some experts have argued that bullying is decreasing, the telephone counselling service ChildLine said last night that it had received 37,000 calls about bullying in 2005-6, 12% up on the previous year.

Schools are required by law to have an anti-bullying policy, which Ofsted, the school inspectorate, is expected to monitor. But the select committee fears schools might be trying to avoid damaging their reputations by not collating figures; it says some anti-bullying programmes involve a "no blame" approach specifically stating that incidents should not be recorded.

The committee’s concluding report published today says all schools, including faith schools, should be required to record all incidents of bullying.

Anti-bullying policies should explicitly mention specific kinds bullying, including disability-related, race-related, faith-based and homophobic bullying.

“Anti-bullying programmes have taken a back seat to political rhetoric about stamping down on discipline and raising standards,” Mr. Williams said.

“But if we cracked bullying, we would see benefits in a lot of other areas too.

LONDON, March 27, 2007 – Such is the level of homophobia in the Catholic Church that its schools should be taken from it and returned to the community sector, says the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

The Association was reacting to a House of Commons Select Committee report on bullying, published today, which shows that the Catholic Church is refusing to tackle homophobic bullying in its schools.

A gay rights activist who has been working for LGBT equality in education since 1974 has said that defeating homophobic bullying in schools will not be achieved by the recommendations of today's report from MPs.

Sue Sanders, who is co-founder of Schools OUT, told PinkNews.co.uk that while she welcomed the focus on harassment in schools, without changes to the entire culture of education little would be achieved.
...

"You are pulling people out of the river but not asking why they are being pushed in in the first place," she said.

"While I am certainly very pleased the MPs are putting a spotlight on bullying, for someone who has been doing this for 30 years, I have to say they are focusing on the obvious.

"They are asking what is happening rather than why it is happening.

Legislation that would protect students from bullying that includes protections for LGBT pupils is expected to get a rough ride in the Republican-controlled Michigan Senate, after passing the Democratic-run House.

[...]

The legislation covers race, ancestry, national origin, sex, height, weight, religion and sexuality.

Supporters said some schools aren¹t doing enough to help students who¹ve been bullied. The bill is named after Matt Epling, a high school student who killed himself in 2002 after a hazing incident.

Republicans and social conservatives oppose the legislation because it includes protections for gay students.

[...]

The legislation narrowly passed the House on a vote mostly along party lines. It's future in the Senate is far from certain.

It's future in the Senate is far from certain.

Republicans and social conservatives oppose the legislation because it includes protections for gay students.

Do you think that "social conservatives" are included in that phrase because they are a species of Republican, or do you think they are included in that phrase because they are a species of Democrat that will vote with the Republicans?

(Tallahassee, Florida) Legislation that would require Florida school boards to establish anti-bullying programs has been declared dead in the Senate

The House on Tuesday passed the bill, named for Jeffery Johnston, a 15 year old who committed suicide in 2005 after he was repeatedly bullied and taunted online. The vote was nearly unanimous.

But in the Senate a parallel bill stalled in the Education Pre-Kindergarten-12 Appropriations Committee which adjourned without considering the measure.

Committee chair Sen. Stephen Wise (R) said the issue is closed, and accused supporters of bullying him.

accused supporters of bullying him.

An anti-bullying bill that was left for dead apparently has been given new life.

Debbie Johnston, the Cape Coral parent who has pushed for a law to give schools more tools to combat bullying, said Thursday that a senator who had been a formidable obstacle has agreed to step out of the way.

At a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Crist “explained we were going to have a special session, and we still had things to work out on property taxes and school safety,” Johnston said.

“Then he pointed straight at me,” she continued. “I asked that, since he had mentioned school safety, did that mean they might be able to work on Jeff’s bill at the special session. I got my political ‘yes’ in front of everyone in the press. I left 10 feet off the ground.”

TRENTON, N.J. -- State officials say an Ocean County school district may not have done enough to prevent harassment of a bisexual student.

"Despite repeatedly calling it to the attention of school authorities, the complainant in this case appears to have been exposed to a harassing environment that was, over a period of years, both severe and persuasive," said J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the Division of Civil Rights, said Tuesday in a statement.

The New Jersey Division of Civil Rights made a finding of probable cause against the Jackson Township school district, which means they feel there is enough evidence to pursue the case further. The case will be submitted to a conciliation process designed to resolve cases without going to a judge.

Action against the Jackson Township school district comes after the state Supreme Court found that New Jersey's anti-discrimination law protects students from harassment.

Four students at a New Jersey high school were suspended after 200 staged a walkout to protest the school's decision to withdraw an offer of tenure to a popular teacher who had objected to anti-gay slurs in her classroom. Cheryl Bachmann reportedly fought to have one of the students who had made a slur permanently removed after the student "was heard screaming in the high school’s hallways, using expletives and threatening to stab Bachmann."

According to The Record, "Students planned the protest after learning Bachmann was told in late April she probably will not be offered tenure. This decision followed an initial indication in March that Bachmann would be asked to remain at the high school. During the month in between, Bachmann had asked two students to leave her class on two separate occasions after she said they both used a derogatory word for a homosexual. According to her, one of the students hit her in the head with a rolled-up gum wrapper on his way out and the female student later threatened to stab Bachmann."

The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group believes any national strategy to tackle schoolyard bullying will fail if it doesn't address homophobia.

A spokesman for the group, Rodney Croome, says Australia's major political parties are failing to recognise that homophobia is a major cause of bullying.

CRYSTAL LAKE -- Two Crystal Lake girls were charged with a felony hate crime for making a flier with derogatory statements about homosexuality and distributing them at a school, authorities said Tuesday

The 16-year-olds were arrested by Crystal Lake police about 1:45 p.m. Friday after they distributed about 40 fliers in the student parking lot at Crystal Lake South High School, 1200 S. McHenry Ave., Crystal Lake.

...

The girls were charged with a hate crime because the fliers "were not written for informational purposes but rather were to incite a breach of peace or cause injury to the person or persons the message was directed against," said Thomas Carroll, McHenry County first assistant state's attorney.

They were also charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing a police officer, and one teen faces an additional charge of resisting a police officer.

Wednesday night, at a board meeting that dragged on close to midnight, the school trustees voted 5-4 to offer Bachmann tenure.

The Department for Education and Skills has rejected a call from MPs to make all schools record bullying incidents.

...

“We do not think it necessary to introduce a statutory requirement to record incidents of bullying and there would be logistical difficulties in doing so,” the department said.

“In addition, introducing a statutory requirement for schools to record bullying incidents will not necessarily persuade more schools to do so.”

That would mean that I have been right all along in suggesting that the only reasonable solution to the problems faced by Gay kids in the United Kingdom is separate schooling.

McHenry County prosecutors dropped a felony hate-crime charge Wednesday against one of two 16-year-old girls accused of distributing anti-gay fliers outside a Crystal Lake high school after she agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges.

Under the deal, the Crystal Lake South High School student pleaded guilty in McHenry County Juvenile Court to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges. She was ordered to remain in home detention on electronic monitoring until she is sentenced in August.

...

The other girl was held in a juvenile detention facility for a time after her arrest, but was released May 29 on the condition that she be strictly monitored at home. She also was ordered to attend a drug and alcohol evaluation program.

Prosecutors said they believe the hate-crime charge was justified but said the plea to lesser charges was fair.

LONDON, June 26, 2007 – A major survey of Britain’s secondary schools has revealed that almost two thirds of lesbian and gay pupils (156,000 children) have been victims of homophobic bullying.

The School Report, the largest poll of young gay people ever conducted in this country, presents a shocking picture of the extent of homophobic bullying undertaken by fellow pupils and, alarmingly, school staff.

Key findings by authors Ruth Hunt and Johan Jensen are:

■ Sixty five per cent of lesbian and gay pupils have experienced homophobic bullying

■ Of those, 92 per cent (143,000) have experienced verbal homophobic bullying, 41 per cent (64,000) physical bullying and 17 per cent (26,000) death threats

■ 97 per cent of gay pupils hear derogatory phrases such as ‘dyke’, ‘queer’ and ‘rug-muncher’ used in school

■ Half of teachers fail to respond to homophobic language when they hear it

■ Thirty per cent of lesbian and gay pupils say that adults - teachers or support staff - are responsible for homophobic incidents in their school

■ Less than a quarter of schools have told pupils that homophobic bullying is wrong

...

The report does, however, demonstrate significant benefits when schools intervene.

In schools that have said homophobic bullying is wrong, gay young people are 60 per cent more likely not to have been bullied.

The newly-appointed minister for Children, Kevin Brennan, has committed the government to working with Stonewall to eradicate homophobic bullying from British schools.

...


The minister stressed that faith schools will be compelled to take action against homophobia as well as secular institutions and he set out two approaches to tackling the problem:

"The first is effective intervention. Part of the reason for the apparent inertia and inaction is that often, teachers are unsure what to do.

"We need to make sure that every teacher has the knowledge, skills and confidence to deal with incidents of homophobic bullying. To challenge intolerance and disrespect in whatever form it rears its ugly head."

Many Morris County teachers and students say anti-gay language is rampant in schools, creating the potential for a hostile environment for gay students, as a court ruling prompts educators to take a closer look at the problem.

...

Legal experts say the state Supreme Court ruling requires schools to go beyond simply having anti-bullying policies. They say it requires schools not only to respond to harassment, but also to prevent it, and to train teachers and educate students to recognize unacceptable behavior.

"Once the policies are in place, schools have to give life to them, and make sure they are not just pieces of paper," said Jim Michael, a state Deputy Attorney General who handled the case, which was brought against the Toms River school district, for the state's Civil Rights Division.

He said the ruling requires school administrators to take action when they are aware, or should be aware, that their schools have a hostile environment. That could extend to language that students use in schools even when it's not directed at gay students, he said.

The State Board of Education adopted a model anti-bullying policy yesterday after removing reference to "taunts based on ethnicity, gender, religion (and) sexual orientation."

Those arguing to keep the language said the board's hourlong debate boiled down to a question of whether gay students should be explicitly protected from taunts and harassment.

...

Board members who prevailed said a more general paragraph in the policy prohibiting "threats, taunts and intimidation through words and/or gestures" was sufficient.

WOODSTOCK - A second girl was cleared of a felony hate crime charge Thursday for circulating fliers at her Crystal Lake high school that depicted two male classmates kissing beside text that included a derogatory term for gays.

The 16-year-old girl pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. In exchange, juvenile prosecutors agreed to drop the hate crime charge and an unrelated marijuana possession charge.

When Jordan Becker was in eighth grade, she learned her first lesson about how gay people can be treated in the classroom and in life. Three years ago, Becker was an openly gay student at Olympia Middle School in Stanford, Ind. "The teachers pulled my friends out of class and said they couldn’t be friends with me. At one point it got so bad the school had to call in counselors to help me," said Becker, now a junior at Normal Community West High School. At one low point during the ordeal, Becker said she considered suicide. With legal assistance from the ALCU, the school district and Becker’s family reached an agreement that restored Becker’s student council position and her class schedule. But bitter feelings about the incident remained, and the family has since moved. Becker helped establish the Gay Straight Alliance at the Normal high school.

When Jordan Becker was in eighth grade, she learned her first lesson about how gay people can be treated in the classroom and in life.

Three years ago, Becker was an openly gay student at Olympia Middle School in Stanford. She got A’s in her classes and was president of the student council. Things changed, said Becker, after her girlfriend’s mother contacted school officials about the relationship.

“The teachers pulled my friends out of class and said they couldn’t be friends with me. At one point it got so bad the school had to call in counselors to help me,” said Becker, now a junior at Normal Community West High School. At one low point during the ordeal, Becker said she considered suicide.

Becker’s mother, Rhonda Becker, said school officials rearranged her daughter’s schedule to separate the two girls. Teachers followed Becker in the hallways and into the bathroom.

“When she was kicked off the student council without a reason, that was the last straw,” said Rhonda Becker.

With legal assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union, the school district and Becker’s family reached an agreement that restored Becker’s student council position and her class schedule.

But bitter feelings about the incident remained, and the family has since moved from the Olympia district into Unit 5. Becker helped establish the Gay Straight Alliance at the Normal high school. Last year, about 20 students attended meetings of the group, which helps students explore sexual orientation issues, she said.

“Looking back, I realize that no one should have to go through what I went through,” said Becker.

"Homophobic bullying is endemic in British schools," says Johan Jensen, co-author of the report. "Some tell of physical bullying, for others it's verbal. There were so many examples. Jo, 19, told us he'd been stabbed because of his sexuality and a girl called Jamelia, aged 18, said she'd been beaten up and was unable to walk for nearly a year. We knew there was a big problem, but we didn't know it was this bad. These are very high numbers. It's shocking."

Bullies who threatened a new student at their Nova Scotia high school for wearing a pink polo shirt were themselves schooled by two seniors who dressed half the student body in pink two days later, the Chronicle-Herald of Halifax reported.

The newbie, a ninth-grader, showed up in pink Sept. 5 for the first day of class at Central Kings Rural High School and was set upon by a group of six to 10 older teens who called him gay and threatened to beat him up, the paper reported.

The next day, seniors David Shepherd and Travis Price decided to act.

[...]

Enlisting as many students as they could online that evening, David and Travis headed to school Friday with a pink basketball, 75 pink tank tops for male students to wear and yards of pink fabric for headbands and armbands. They even persuaded a local retailer to open early so they could buy more.

"Clothes were flying. They were digging to help us find pink shirts," David told the Kings County Register.

BRIGHTON, September 17, 2007 – Every school should have a ‘Bullying Mentor’, a trained member of staff to counsel children who are the victims of homophobic and other types of bullying, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The proposal was part of a package of measures aimed at tackling bullying in schools passed by the Liberal Democrat Autumn conference today in Brighton.

...

“Bullying Mentors in each school would help deal with the consequences of bullying, while joint action between pupils and teachers would tackle the causes.

“All schools, including religious schools, should have anti-bullying policies that specifically address homophobic bullying,” the openly gay MP continued.

He said the bullying is under investigation.

"We know who all the people are, and it will be dealt with with appropriate corrective behavior," Pearl said.

A second teenage girl was sentenced Wednesday to 1 year of probation and ordered to write letters of apology for distributing anti-gay fliers earlier this year outside Crystal Lake South High School.

The girl, 16, also was sentenced to 14 days in the McHenry County Jail, but Juvenile Court Judge Michael Chmiel suspended the sentence as long as she abides by the rules of her probation.

...

The other teen, now 17, received a nearly identical sentence in August.