Australia: There needs to be more LGBTI Rights subjects across law schools

Law schools around Australia need to move education away from assumptions of heterosexuality and gender normativity and encourage students to grapple with legal issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Paula Gerber explains.

THERE are 36 law schools within Australian universities. How many of these do you think offer subjects relating to LGBTI rights, sexual orientation or gender identity? Half? A quarter?

Alas, on the most generous count, it is only eight: Monash University, Southern Cross University, Griffith University, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australian National University, Macquarie University, University of Western Australia, and University of Wollongong.

While this is a disappointingly low number, and a poor geographic spread – with no offerings in South Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory, and only one in Victoria – it is a big improvement on just five years ago. In 2010, only three law schools offered LGBTI-related subjects. Read More 

Russia: Anti-gay views on rise; teachers face brunt

Alevtina is one of several teachers who lost their jobs in St. Petersburg after being outed by an anti-gay activist. While most resigned quietly, the 27-year-old music teacher decided to fight her dismissal in court — an unusual step in Russia where gays have faced increasing pressure in recent years.

The rising anti-gay sentiment has coincided with the passage of a controversial Russian law that prohibits exposing children to gay "propaganda." The law has made it easy to target teachers, because they work directly with children.

The hardening of lines against gays is thrown into stark relief by a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. The survey found that Russians' tolerance of gays has plummeted in recent years, with 51% of those surveyed late last year saying they would not want a gay neighbor. This was up from 38% in 2012.  Read More 

US: Students fight back after Catholic School fires their teacher

More than 150 students and alumni of a Des Moines–area Catholic high school demonstrated in protest of the school’s decision to rescind a full-time job offer of substitute teacher and school coach Tyler McCubbin because he’s gay. McCubbin says the school initially told him he could continue substitute teaching and coaching if he wanted. But after news of the decision prompted public outcry, the administration rescinded their offer. 

Students walked out of class and prayed in the rain with alums. “I just want the community to know that this is a really important topic, and that just because our school officials or diocesan leaders might have made this decision, it does not directly reflect what we believe as students,” said Grace Mumm, a sophomore.

The diocese has said that the Catholic School contract “contains specific language that outlines the code of conduct in accord with long accepted Church teaching” and that “it is our expectation that staff and teachers support our moral beliefs as they are the models of our Catholic faith.” There have been several cases around the nation of staff at Catholic churches and schools being fired or not offered jobs because they are engaged or married to a same-sex partner. Read More 

Canada: Alberta’s new stand on gay-straight alliances makes for ‘historic’ day

Alberta has vaulted to the forefront of Canada’s debates on sexuality and gender expression, Premier Jim Prentice said after MLAs quickly passed legislation that ended a debate on gay support clubs that roiled the province.

When Alberta’s legislature convened for the first time in 2015, Mr. Prentice’s Education Minister announced that the Tory government was reversing its position on gay-straight alliances and would make the clubs mandatory in every school where a student requested one. Parents in Alberta will also no longer be able to remove their children from classes where sexual orientation is being discussed. A separate amendment will add gender expression and identity to the grounds for which Albertans will be protected from discrimination. Read More

UK: David Cameron Supports Trans Rights – And Says We Need To Tackle “Homophobic Bullying”

David Cameron has pledged to tackle prejudice against transgender people and said “one of the most important things” is to combat bullying in schools related to sexual orientation.

“I think we need to take a look at what the issues are and what the specific issues of discrimination that trans people have,” said the prime minister. “I think one of the most important things is what happens in our schools, particularly homophobic and biphobic bullying.” Read More

Australia: MP sees gay plot in anti-bully scheme

In a presentation to Liberal MPs at Parliament House, Peter Abetz has warned colleagues that an anti-bullying program, Safe Schools Coalition Australia, is actually a "gay lifestyle promotion program" and should be stopped from coming to Western Australia. 

The SSCA program, he said, crossed the line into advocacy and was "really not an anti-bullying program". "In fact, when you look at it closer, it really is little more than a gay, lesbian, transgender lifestyle promotion program," Mr Abetz said. "The militant gay lesbian lobby is trying to get this into our schools to 'normalise' what they consider the LGBTI agenda."

Shadow minister for disability services, mental health and child protection, Stephen Dawson, a supporter of the program, said the comments were "misguided and homophobic". Read More

Italy: School plan to change gender stereotypes causes storm

A plan to to challenge young children’s ideas about gender through play at schools in northern Italy – including with a memory game that contains images of male homemakers and female plumbers – has created a storm of protest, with some politicians saying the effort will confuse children about their sexual identity.

The programme – titled Game of Respect – is aimed at children aged three to six in 45 schools in the Trieste region and involves educating teachers about how to use games and role-playing to teach gender equality. Read More

Turkey: Council of State rules firings of gay teacher against the law

The Council of State has ruled that the dismissal of a teacher who has homosexual relations in their private life to be against the law. The Council of State has pointed to the lack of evidence, indication or witnesses to show that the plaintiff reflected homosexual tendencies in the school or engaged in such relations with students outside of the school.  Read More 

UK: One quarter of homeless youths are LGBTI, says study

The research, carried out by The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), aimed to explore the experiences of homeless youths – aged 16-25 – who identify as LGBTI living in the UK.  The survey discovered that LGBTI youths, who are more likely to find themselves homeless than their non-LGBTI peers, currently make up 24% of the homeless youth population in the UK. 

An overwhelming 69% of them were forced out of their familial homes after experiencing rejection at the hands of their parents on the grounds of their sexuality. Other driving forces behind their LGBTI youth homelessness include mental, emotional or sexual abuse from a family member (69%), and aggression or physical violence within the familial home (62%). Read More

US: LGBTQ youth driven to ‘survival sex’ by homelessness and discrimination, study shows

LGBTQ youth living on the streets or struggling to find a job often turn to sex to make ends meet, according to a new study by the Urban Institute. LGBTQ youth face unique difficulties that drive them to the streets, including family abuse and a lack of access to health care or counseling, the study showed.

LGBTQ youth are estimated to make up between 20 to 40 percent of the homeless youth population, but only 5 to 7 percent of the total young population in the United States.

“I don’t remember it that vividly, all I know is that I was starving,” said one 21-yr-old male identified as black and gay. “I was hungry, I was cold, so I did it.” Read More

South Africa: Owners of gay 'cure' camp found guilty of killing teen

In 2013, 15-year-old Raymond Buys died after he was kept chained to his bed, beaten with planks and hoses at a training camp that boasted of "making men" out of its young recruits. In in 2007, 25-year-old Erich Calitz died from severe brain injuries and 19-year-old Nicholas van der Walt died at the same training camp.

Now “death camp” commander Alex de Koker's “pathetic” and “absurd” testimony has seen him branded a murderer. Read More

Canada: Ontario's New Sex-Ed Curriculum Triggers Heated Debate

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne strongly defended the province's revised sex-education curriculum Tuesday as she faced Opposition criticism that was branded as "homophobic."

Wynne, who is openly gay, took issue with a comment from Progressive Conservative Monte McNaughton, who has frequently criticized the premier's "sex-ed agenda."  Read More