Times Colonist (Victoria), Tue Oct 19 2010

Comment

Kristopher Wells
Source: Special to Times Colonist

Within the past several weeks, seven young men in the U.S. and two young women in Canada have committed suicide because of homophobic bullying, harassment and societal prejudice.

Research indicates that suicide is the No. 1 cause of death among gay, lesbian and bisexual youth in North America.

However, it is not the No. 1 cause of death for heterosexual youth. What explains this difference?

Important risk factors for adolescent suicide include experiences of substance abuse, feelings of hopelessness, sexual abuse, a history of family dysfunction and the recent or attempted suicide of a close friend or family member.

In addition to these more general risk factors, sexual minority youth face additional distinctive risk factors such as a lack of family acceptance, age at which they come out, gender atypicality and bullying or conflict because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

On average, sexual minority youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

Researchers suggest this startling discrepancy may also be rooted in sexual minority youth's experiences at school.

For example, Egale Canada, a human rights organization, conducted a recent national safe schools climate survey, that involved more than 3,500 youth, it found that 70 per cent of youth reported hearing expressions such as "that's so gay" every day in their schools. In addition, 47 per cent of students heard, on a daily basis, derogatory remarks such as "faggot" and "dyke."

If homophobic epithets are among the most commonly used derogatory language heard in schools today, why are they the least responded to by teachers? As this survey and recent traumatic events indicate, schools are dangerous places for those students who are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Some ways in which we can actively work to foster much-needed educational change and make it better for sexual minority youth include:

- Creating positive representations: Sexual minority youth need to see themselves and their history reflected in the curriculum, resources and images in their classrooms. Silence equals erasure.

- Improving family and parental acceptance: Family is the No. 1 resiliency factor in the lives of all youth. Unfortunately, for many sexual minority youth, their family is also their biggest source of discrimination.

- Fostering positive peer and school relationships: A sense of belonging and attachment are critical to personal and academic success. Anti-homophobia and anti-transphobia teacher training and inclusive school policies are critical in addressing homophobic language, bullying and discrimination.

- Developing support networks: Creating and sustaining gay-straight student alliances in schools and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community-based youth groups help foster a sense of connection and work to reduce feelings of isolation, alienation and despair. Gay-straight alliances often represent the one safe space in schools where it's OK to be different, regardless of what that difference might be.

- Providing comprehensive sexual health education: All students need access to age-appropriate and non-judgmental information to be able to make informed decisions about the issues that impact their lives.

Teaching about comprehensive sexual health is not about special rights or sexual rights, but about human rights.

Used collectively, these and other strategies can help to support youth to develop a resilient mindset in which their self- and social-esteem is enhanced.

With these supports in place, youth will realize that they don't have to wait for things to get better, they can be encouraged to reach out and find support to help make things better now.

We can't afford to wait until another young life is tragically lost to bullying or suicide. If we are to build a truly responsible and respectful Canadian society, then we all must stand up and denounce the conditions of oppression whenever we see or hear them, and, in turn, create new possibilities for a more just, humane and ethical world.

We can't wait for this world to happen on its own; we need to make it happen right now, and we need to start in our schools before more lives are tragically lost.

Kristopher Wells is a teacher and doctoral scholar at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services in the faculty of education, University of Alberta.