LAUNCESTON LGBTI COMMUNITY PROTESTS SAFE SCHOOLS CHANGES

TODAY, at 3pm, Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender an Intersex (LGBTI) people, friends, families and allies will stage a snap protest outside of Bass MP Andrew Nikolic’s office. The group ‘Launceston Supports Safe Schools’ are protesting the dramatic changes to the federally-funded program Safe Schools Coalition.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission 61% of LGBTI youth experience bullying because of their gender, sex or sexuality. 80% of bullying occurs at school. Beyond Blue have reported that 50% of transgender Australians will attempt suicide in their lifetime. Numerous other studies since the early 2000s have confirmed the link between high rates of suicide and self harm, with the violence and abuse experienced by the LGBTI community.

Protest organiser, Claire Johnston says,

“The debate about Safe Schools has been appalling. Nikolic and other conservative politicians have tried to shift the spotlight from young LGBTI people to their parents. This is completely inappropriate when what the research tells us is that the two main sites of homophobic and transphobic abuse happen at school and in the home. Young people need access to resources and support at school without needing to ‘come out’ to their parents. This is a matter of safety.”

“Transgender and intersex people have been invisible from this debate. When Nikolic and other conservative MPs protest against school kids being given information about people whose genitals do not correspond to their gender, this is a direct attack on transgender and intersex children. It perpetuates the myth that transgender and intersex children are ‘abnormal’ or not ‘real’. Nikolic and the media need to listen to transgender and intersex youth who are telling us they need this program.”
Claire Johnston