US: North Carolina enacts law to allow LGBT discrimination

Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly rushed through a bill to repeal all local LGBT non-discrimination ordinances in the state and ban transgender people from certain restrooms. Republicans had unveiled the legislation Wednesday morning, arguing the measure was needed to protect women from transgender people and sex predators. They were reacting to an ordinance in Charlotte — which was scheduled to take effect April 1 — that would protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing and public accommodations.

Despite the focus on Charlotte, the state’s preemption law does more than stymie that city’s ordinance. House Bill 2 mandates that state law supersedes all local ordinances concerning wages, employment, and public accommodations. It also restricts single-sex public restrooms and locker rooms in publicly run facilities to people of the same sex on their birth certificate.

In addition, it bans transgender students from school restrooms that correspond with their gender identity — teeing up a potential legal clash with the federal government, which has found civil rights laws ban transgender discrimination in schools. Read more via Buzzfeed

Instagram launches #VisibleMe channel dedicated to LGBT youth

Instagram has launched its first channel which is dedicated to LGBT youth. Users were encouraged to include the hashtag #VisibleMe in their posts to tell their story over the social media platform.

Raymond Braun, who organised the campaign, says he intends to shine a “spotlight” on diverse, compelling stories from LGBT youth.

“People are more likely to support the LGBTQ community when they know someone who identifies as LGBTQ, so I hope this project provides a platform and voice to young people, helping them feel empowered and supported.” 

 Read more via Gay Times
 

Australia: Bullied kids sacrificed to conservative right

On the National Day of Action Against Bullying on Friday, the Coalition government scaled back the anti-bullying Safe Schools program it launched just two years ago. Following a month of campaigning from The Australian and 18 months of campaigning from the fringe group the Australian Christian Lobby, the government has announced plans to change the Safe Schools Coalition program.

In the face of complaints from backbenchers including Cory Bernardi and George Christensen, Education Minister Simon Birmingham last month appointed respected University of WA Professor Bill Louden to review the program, which was launched by then-education minister Christopher Pyne in 2014. The Safe Schools Coalition program is now implemented at 526 schools across Australia and comprises resources created for schools to reduce bullying of LGBTI students.

The review, released on Friday, broadly found the content in the program to be “suitable, educationally sound and age-appropriate” for schools but recommended changes to some of the lessons in the “All of Us” resource for teachers.

Conservative MPs called on Birmingham to suspend funding of Safe Schools while a full parliamentary inquiry was conducted. Christensen didn’t get his review, but he told reporters on Friday the government’s decision was “better than an inquiry” and would strip the “queer theory” and “sexual liberation” ideals from classrooms:

“Effectively, gutting the program of all of the concerning content is what I wanted at the end of the day or the program shut down. It’s fundamentally changed now to is going to be an anti-bullying program that doesn’t have all of the extra stuff in it that I found of concern and parents and grandparents found of concern so I’m comfortable.” Read more via Crikey

How Mormonism is creating an increasingly toxic environment for Its LGBT youth

Last November, the church enacted a worldwide policy that mandates church discipline (the process that precedes excommunication) for all LGBT members married to someone of their same gender; it also bans children of LGBT individuals from certain saving rites, including baptism, until those children turn 18 years old — and only then if they publicly disavow the relationship of their LGBT parents.

Although the new policy provoked thousands of straight and LGBT Mormons to officially resign from the church and untold others to walk away or diminish their involvement, the leadership of the church has persistently doubled down.

While many Mormons obediently (if quietly and little grudgingly) support church leaders, some vulnerable LGBT members are seeing no other way out than to take their own lives. In late January, church-owned Deseret News reported that there were claims of 32 LGBT Mormon youth taking their own lives; the group Mama Dragons (an organization of LDS mothers of young LGBT members) now report that figure may be as high as 43. Read more via Huffington Post

Canada: How this indigenous youth is making sex education sexy

Growing up, Alexa Lesperance saw low youth attendance at sexual health education events in her Naotkamegwanning First Nation in northwestern Ontario. High rates of sexually transmitted diseases and infections, suicides and teen pregnancy characterize some Indigenous communities but, Lesperance discovered, there's often little to no engaging education to address the problem.

So at just 17 years old, she hatched a plan and, with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network behind her, she made sex education sexy. And so far, it's been the most popular project the Network has seen.

Lesperance's Sexy Health Carnival has been to over 30 Indigenous communities and draws anywhere from 80 to 1,200 people.

At a carnival in Naotkamegwanning First Nation, a young Anishinaabe mom pushes a stroller through a gymnasium packed with tables cloaked in bright cloths and giant colorful displays behind them. Teens around her giggle as they compete for prizes. She's smiling as she makes her way to a booth that offers games and space for little ones while the parents walk freely around. Then she heads over to a red display and a sign posing the question, "How can you protect yourself?" Underneath that is another sign reading, "Our culture is strong; break the silence, talk about HIV."

"Learning should be pleasurable. It's not just Sexual Health 101, like 'This is how you put on a condom,'" Lesperance says from Ottawa, where she attends Carleton University with the goal of attending medical school to become a health practitioner providing culturally safe care for her nation.

For young people who have gone through standard sex ed in high school, where putting a condom on a banana is boilerplate, the Sexy Health Carnival is a game changer. It may look like just a lively trade expo of sorts to adults looking in, but its engaging questions and disarming activities make it magnetic to youth.

An Indigenous teen throws a dart at a wall of balloons and when a red one pops, a card inside is revealed with a question he must answer – "True or false, is oral sex risk free?" Another balloon bursts, revealing another question – "Can you get HIV from a toilet seat?" For Alexa, it is all part of making awkward and uncomfortable subjects more approachable, and fun. Read more via Globe and Mail

Australia: Safe Schools stoush highlights deep divisions in Coalition

A stoush over Safe Schools has highlighted deep divisions within the Coalition as some MPs air their grievances with the anti-bullying program while others throw their support behind it.

A review into the program was ordered by the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, late last month after backbench unrest about its content. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said: “I think it’s beyond a joke that Mr Turnbull is fanning the fires of the lunar right of his political party.

“Mr Turnbull has to show leadership. His mistake was not in slapping down this issue earlier. Now he has a standoff between an insurgent rightwing backbench and his minister for education.”

Conservatives within the Coalition say the anti-bullying campaign, which aims to stamp out homophobia and transphobia, undermines a parent’s ability to teach their children about gender and sexuality.  

 Read more via the Guardian
 

Trinidad and Tobago: Teacher wants a gun

A teacher at the prestigious Naparima College in San Fernando, is under fire, for a rant against homosexuality, going as far as wanting a gun to deal with such persons and other problems in the world. The teacher is said to have made initial comments on the issue during morning assembly at the school on Thursday last and subsequently in a classroom session. According to reports, a student announced to the assembly it was 'ok to be gay' before he was verbally attacked by the teacher.

Referring to the parents of a student who had openly professed to being gay, the teacher reportedly said: “He has two parents, who should not be parents. They are both screw-ups, they are atheists, they do not believe in God.” “You see me,” she is said to have continued, “Give me a gun and I will fix all the problems in the world, both of them (parents) first, then their offspring. Do not tell me there is no God,” she added while noting that persons with such beliefs should keep it to themselves. 

The audio recording of which the teacher’s voice has been identified, as the one addressing a classroom session, has gone viral on social media, generating numerous comments both for her gun talk and jab at homosexuals. A senior official at the school confirmed the incident, saying that a report was being prepared to be passed to the Ministry of Education.  

Read more via Newsdays
 

US: Teens these days are queer af, new study says

A new survey of young Americans aged 13 to 20 years old (also known, in marketing-speak, as "Generation Z") has found that they are far more open-minded and permissive than their older millennial counterparts when it comes to issues of gender and sexuality. According to a report by trend forecasting agency J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group, only 48% of Gen Zs identify as exclusively heterosexual, compared to 65% of millennials aged 21 to 34.

"We did a survey of Gen Z for a report released in May 2015 and found that 81% said that gender doesn't define a person as much as it used to," said Shepherd Laughlin, the director of trendspotting at J. Walter Thompson.

"That was an intriguing statistic that got a lot of attention in the media, but we weren't sure quite what it meant: Were they just saying, for example, that men or women could pursue any career they wanted to? Or did this reflect the more radical idea that gender itself isn't as important to personal identity as it used to be, or that gender shouldn't be seen as a binary? This new research shows that the latter idea is gaining significant traction among Gen Zers."

"Millennials are quite open when it comes to gender identity, generally, but they haven't been exposed to the range of vocabulary and nuance around this that Gen Z has become accustomed to, especially when it comes to discussions on online platforms like Tumblr," Laughlin said. "I think that as Gen Zers eventually enter the workplace and interact more with millennials as adults, millennials will gain a better understanding of these issues, and the gap will narrow."   Read more via Broadly

UK: Government pledges £1 million to tackle homophobic bullying

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced £1 million of funding, which is being put towards tackling LGBT bullying in schools. Mrs Morgan, who is also Minister for Equalities, said: “I am determined to do all I can to consign homophobic and transphobic bullying to the dustbin of history.”

Despite having opposed marriage equality in 2013, Morgan has made homophobic bullying one of her top priorities since taking the Education portfolio in the Conservative government. She had previously delivered a £2 million package in October 2014 to tackle the same issue.

Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt said the funding – which has been announced less than a month after the government rejected recommendations for mandatory, inclusive sex and relationship education in schools – was “crucial” to teaching young people about the importance of inclusivity and acceptance. Read more via Attitude 

Australia: Meet the trans kids fighting for the right to transition

Access to medical treatment changes transgender people’s lives. It can mean the difference between employment and homelessness, education and dropping out, wellbeing and depression, anxiety and suicide. But for many, it remains out of reach.

Australia is the only Western country where transgender people under the age of 18 must seek court permission to start taking cross-sex hormones. At best, experts say, the delay causes emotional trauma and financial stress. At worst, it’s a matter of life and death. Read more via Buzzfeed

Kiddle the child-friendly, Google-powered search censoring 'bisexual' and 'transgender'

A new search engine aimed at children blocks words such as “bisexual” and “transgender” and says that they are “bad words”. The search engine uses Google’s technology by allowing people to search in a custom Google search bar. But it is meant to keep children safe, by excluding words that could be damaging to children.

Many of those words lead to pages that could be useful to children, however. And sites related to sexuality, gender and other important topics are still being missed. The site also still allows people to see adult content when searching for words like Pamela Anderson, and does not filter a story about a Danish radio host killing a rabbit.

The site says that its search results “are either handpicked and checked by our editors or filtered by Google safe search”. That process means that people “get kid-oriented results without any explicit content”.  Read more via the Independent