Australia: This Is What Happens At A Formal For LGBT Teens

Traditionally, school formal night itself pales in comparison to the weeks of anticipation.

Thoughts of table configurations, outfits, fake IDs, and, of course, dates cloud the collective psyche of the average graduating class. But for kids who are gay, bisexual, and transgender, such everyday worries easily magnify as they wonder where they fit in this particularly “straight” mainstay of the high school experience. Consider the transgender girl who has long dreamed of the opportunity to wear a ball gown, but fears ridicule by her peers. Or the out guy who wants to bring his boyfriend from another school, but is met by a hostile administration. For this girl, this guy, and many, many others, the formal can be a minefield of awkward situations and social exclusion.

Enter Minus18. A group for LGBTI young people based in Victoria, Minus18 has run several successful formals for queer young people and their friends in Melbourne over recent years. The group has tapped into a market with clear demand – numbers at their last Melbourne formal swelled to about 500. Read more via Buzzfeed

Germany: The Demand is higher than ever for LGBT school education

The LGBT-school education project SchLAu NRW draws the face of a specialist day for 15-year anniversary in Bochum balance: Overall, more than 70,000 young people have participated in SchLAu workshops. The number of participants has risen considerably in recent years.

"The demand is higher than ever," explains Benjamin Kinkel, country coordinator of SchLAu NRW. "Questions about sexual orientation and gender diversity have all young people." SchLAu take young people with their questions seriously and answer them professionally sensibilisiere simultaneously for a democratic and multifaceted cooperation. The increasing demand of the schools show how important the commitment of more than 200 volunteers at SchLAu NRW. Read more via QueerDE

US: The mob of screaming parents who want their kids kept ‘pure’ of LGBTI sex ed

Omaha Public Schools has not revised its sex education classes for 30 years. So there’s nothing about ‘sexting’ or bullying over sexual orientation and gender identity. This curriculum goes back to a time where no sitting President had even uttered the word ‘AIDS’ in public.

Updating it is a no-brainer. Omaha parents agree. In a survey of 1,500 parents, 97% supported almost all the proposed changes. The only drop in support was about discussing sexual orientations, gender concepts and relationships. 25% of the parents were against kids being given that information. But that means the majority are in favor.

A group of healthcare professionals, educators, and reproductive rights activists were prepared to vocally support the new curriculum in front of the Omaha Public School board. Nebraskans for Founders Values, Christ Community Church and other mega churches had recruited their supporters to show up brandishing signs, pasting stickers all over the auditorium and yelling. Read more via Gay Star News 

Scotland: Group pushes mandatory LGBT education in public schools; proposal seen as 'Trojan horse' to indoctrinate pupils

An LGBT group called Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) is campaigning for public school children to "learn about homosexual, bisexual and transgender issues." The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has backed the promotion of LGBT History Month last April. "This includes making it compulsory for all schools' sex education policies to include a positive portrayal of same-sex relationships, promoting LGBT History Month in all schools, and encouraging schools to develop a curriculum that is inclusive of LGBT issues," said Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT.

Rev. David Robertson, moderator of the Free Church of Scotland said an LGBT education would violate the human rights of Christian parents: "Human rights legislation says that 'the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions. The petitioner's demand for statutory teaching of such topics without provision for parents and pupils who disagree is in direct conflict with this legislation," he said.

Robertson warned that the aim of the proposal is indoctrination: "We believe that the real object of the petition is to indoctrinate school pupils with one particular perspective on moral and sexual ethics and one which is contrary to mainstream Christianity. We believe this is a Trojan horse to impose an ideological perspective on all pupils, whether they want it or not," he said. Read More via Christian Today 

UK: Trans group branded ‘child abusers’ for teaching kids about gender

The Mail on Sunday has criticized transgender non-profit group Gendered Intelligence – for teaching children about gender. 

The Mail said that it had “seen footage of Gendered Intelligence conducting workshops with primary classes”, in which founder Dr Jay Stewart explained to children he was a man, despite being assigned female at birth. It added that “thousands of pupils” had the “controversial classes” – claiming that children were “encouraged to explore their gender identities”.

Comments on the article were shockingly hostile, with one popular comment claiming: “The people who advocate this kind of policy aught (sic) to be prosecuted for child abuse.”

The group spoke out against factual inaccuracies, writing: “There are some misconceptions in the article – mainly the alluding to Gendered Intelligence encouraging young people to become trans, which of course is not true. Dr Jay Stewart said: “It’s so important to teach children in schools that they can be anything that they want to be, regardless of the gender that they have been given at birth." Read more via PinkNews

Italy: 'Improper' use of transgender photo by Italian political party

A student from Bristol is taking legal action after a picture of her friend was "misrepresented" by an Italian political party campaigning against transgender education in schools. Rose Morelli, 17, said it was "hugely distressing" to see the photo of Alex Elliot on the leaflet by the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia.

She is now taking legal action after her lawyer said Alex's image had been "misrepresented" and may have breached copyright issues.

Italian law does not currently legislate against crimes motivated by the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victims. On its website, the Trentino branch of the Italian gay rights group, Arcigay, described Fratelli d'Italia's use of Ms Morelli's photo as "an insult".

In a message on Twitter, Fratelli d'Italia said the use of the photo had been "improper". However, the party maintained that "it is right to campaign against gender teaching in school".  Read More via the BBC 

South Africa: Young sexual minorities face increased HIV risk at university

In South Africa, young men who have sex with men are increasingly exploring their sexuality at university, without always understanding the HIV and other health risks they are taking. Yet there are few programmes and awareness campaigns address that focus on young men who have sex with men to address these issues.

A study across 14 higher education institutions involving sexual minorities, found risky sexual behaviour is increasing the risk of HIV transmission among these population groups. The study found that young gay and bisexual students are coming out of the closet, particularly in tertiary education institutions where they are more likely to meet their counterparts. But it is important to understand that not all men who have sex with men identify as gay. The study found that some men who identify as heterosexual engage in unprotected sex with other men, as well as having unprotected sex with female partners.

Based on its findings the study calls for more programmes at education institutions, and greater involvement of male students who have sex with men in such programmes, to help reduce the risk of HIV transmission. At the University of Western Cape a programme for men who have sex with men, as well as people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) is improving the lives of many students.   Read more via Key Correspondents

Russia: LGBT youth left isolated, victimised by "gay propaganda" law

Russian activists say the anti-gay propaganda law has fuelled anti-gay abuse, discrimination and violence, spawned a "chilling effect", and victimised young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and deterred them from coming out and seeking support.

Punishable by jail in the Soviet Union, homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993 yet much of the LGBT community remains underground and prejudice runs deep. The law has only been enforced in a handful of cases, and Elena Klimova, the founder of one of Russia's only online communities for LGBT youths, Deti-404, where users share stories of attacks and humiliation, was the latest person to be convicted in July and was fined 50,000 roubles (£540).

Tanya Cooper, Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the gay propaganda law was part of a wider crackdown on civil society and anybody who challenged traditional Russian values. Read More via Reuters 

New Zealand: Whangarei youth stand against bullying

A Whangarei anti-bullying project has launched a series of videos made by local youth, including one which looks at homophobic bullying. The films were produced by the Tu Toa Whangarei anti-bullying project, which is linked to the Whangarei Youth Space.

TurnAround takes a situation where a young man is bullied for possibly being gay, and turns it on its head, showing the power of standing up for yourself and others. See more at Gay NZ 

Japan: Bullying rampant for gay, bisexual male teens

More than 40% of gay and bisexual male teenagers say they have experienced bullying, apparently because of their sexual orientation, a survey revealed. 20% of them turned to truancy or self-inflicted injuries as a way of coping.

The survey was conducted online by a research team led by Yasuharu Hidaka, a professor of social medicine at Takarazuka University's nursing school. Valid answers were given by around 20,000 gay and bisexual males nationwide between the ages of 11 and 71.

The survey found that those who had "never learned about homosexuality in elementary, junior or senior high school" totaled 41%, marking a significant drop from the 63% recorded in the previous poll by Hidaka in 2005. However, those who learned that being a sexual minority was "abnormal" or who received negative information about sexual minorities had increased to 30% from the 23% recorded in 2005. Read More via The Asahi Shimbun

Thailand: University introduces mandatory class on transgender issues

As the academic school year gets into full swing in Thailand, Thammasat, one of the country’s most prestigious and progressive universities is making a Social Life Skills class mandatory for its incoming freshman. This new course aims to ensure students have the skills to lead a successful life and covers a wide range of subjects, including music, art, sports and a three hour session on sex, where part of the focus is on gender identity.

Kritipat Chotidhanitsakul (Jimmy) has been invited to sensitize students about transgender issues and by the end of the school year is expected to have lectured to 8,000 students. This is the first time Thammasat has made such a topic mandatory for new students.

Jimmy, a transgender man and the President of the Transmen Alliance of Thailand, is glad to be a guest lecturer: “I am very happy to be teaching so many students. I hope they will mature into adults who understand transgender issues and set a new trend for society.”   Read More via Asian Correspondent  

US: Locker room access for transgender teen divides Missouri town

Missouri transgender teen Lila Perry says she began to feel like a girl when she was 13 and started appearing as one in school this year when classes began in August. The 17-year-old wears skirts, makeup and a long wig styled with bobby pins. She even started using the girls' locker room to change for gym class, despite the school's offer of a single-occupancy restroom.

"I am a girl. I am not going to be pushed away to another bathroom," she told CNN affiliate KPLR. In less than two weeks, however, it became clear she was not welcome in the locker room. Classmates whispered about her in hallways, complained to faculty and told their parents, who brought it up at the school board meeting on August 27.

A group of students organized a walkout with their parents' support. The protest made national headlines, casting a large spotlight on this small town of 2,900 people about 30 miles south of St. Louis with "more wild mice than people," as one resident described Hillsboro.

In response, Perry and her supporters organized a rally Friday at Hillsboro Park where she addressed the controversy. She thanked her classmates for bringing attention to her story and giving her a platform "to be a part of helping and inspiring other trans and gender nonconforming young people."   Read More via CNN