More than two-thirds of Canadian high school students who identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual or transgendered said they felt unsafe at school, according to survey results published Monday.
About 1,200 students participated in the nationwide survey on homophobia and transphobia conducted by the gay-rights lobby group Egale Canada. The group says the survey is the first of its kind.
Participants included those who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited, queer or questioning, also known as LGBTQ, as well as straight. Two-spirited refers to an aboriginal belief in the existence of a male-female gender.
One-quarter of LGBTQ respondents reported physical threats because of their sexual orientation, while over half said they'd been verbally harassed. Forty-one per cent of LGBTQ participants reported sexual harassment, compared to 19 per cent of straight students. "We may have human rights for LGBTQ people in Canada, but you'd never know it based on these results," said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada.
She said the issue largely stems from a lack of education. "There are no mandatory courses. There's no issue around sensitivity training so the teachers, we are finding, don't have the resources that they need to address this issue," she said in St. John's over the weekend.
Other findings by the survey include:
(www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/01/25/egale-survey.html)
CBC News - Friday, January 25, 2008
The Toronto District Catholic School Board has declined to take part in an online survey about homophobia. The survey is sponsored by Egale Canada, a national organization that promotes the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. When the survey was launched in December, Egale approached school boards across the country to help distribute the survey to students from Grade 8 to Grade 12.
Egale executive director Helen Kennedy said trustees from three Catholic boards in Toronto, Guelph, Ont., and Alberta, have all said no. "The study is not about sexual behaviour, it is about social behaviour," said Kennedy. "It's about bullying, harassment and taunting in our schools."
John Del Grande, a trustee with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, wrote he would not support the study in his Catholic schools. Another rejection letter came from the chair of the Wellington Catholic District School Board in Guelph. Rev. Dennis Noon wrote in capital letters "Not interested thank you." Noon told CBC News homophobia is not a big issue for his board. Kennedy disagrees. "It's as prevalent in the Catholic system as it is in the public system," she said.
Ontario Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne said she's disappointed with the negative responses and hopes there will be more open conversations around the study.
Egale has had some success with its campaign. Public boards in Thunder Bay and Vancouver are participating and Egale said other public boards are negotiating how they can take part. Social agencies are also helping to distribute the survey to students.
[Egale Canada] Safe Schools Campaign
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