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LONDON,
December 8, 2005 – A 270foot long ‘petition’ of double sheets bearing
thousands of footprints with the message “Stamp Out Homophobia in Our
Schools” wound its way round Westminster yesterday afternoon.
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■ The first
completed 'panel' of the giant 250-ft petition completed at Birmingham
Pride in May. The petition highlights continuing concerns over
homophobic bullying in schools and was presented to Schools Minister
Jacqui Smith MP today.
(photo: UK Gay News) |
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Students
from Birmingham University’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangendered group,
members of The Metro, Mosaic and Staying OUT LGBT youth groups plus
representatives from Schools OUT and other passionate people from the LGBT
community carried the traffic-stopping document from the House of Lords to
the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), in Great Smith Street.
Jacqui
Smith MP, Minister for Schools, received the petition from Claire Anderson
of Birmingham University, who spearheaded the campaign through countless
Pride festivals throughout England during the summer. She was supported in
the presentation by members of Staying OUT and Sue Sanders of Schools OUT.
The Minister was impressed and asked the young
people about their motives and purposes in gathering this petition. Nathan
of Staying OUT described his experiences of being bullied with homophobic
abuse, attacks and violence in his school. He explained the crucial role
played by the LGBT Youth Group in giving him support, understanding and a
‘safe’ space at a time when he felt so isolated at school.
Claire
described her experiences at the ‘Gay Pride’ festivals, up and down the
country, where people were so keen to place their feet in paint and stamp
their footprints and write messages to the DfES, with, in some cases, a
brief account their own stories on the sheets.
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■ The petition
winds its way through the streets of Westminster
(photo: SchoolsOUT) |
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Petitioners wanted to send the message that homophobia and bullying in
schools must stop. Calire said that she had heard many moving stories from
people, young and old, who had had their own terrible experiences at
school. “They said that they want future generations to be and feel safe in
our schools,” she told the Minister.
Sue
Sanders of Schools Out explained how crucial it is that the DfES ensure that
all LGBT staff in schools feel safe to be ‘out’ there. “If the adults are
not safe being ‘out’ at their workplace, how can young LGBT people feel safe
in school,” she asked?
When the
DfES acknowledges the vital work that LGBT staff do in schools and give them
the support and encouragement to be ‘out’ to their pupils, they will put an
end to the lie that everyone in schools is heterosexual, she pointed out.
Eli
Bar-On of Staying OUT responded to the Minister’s question about how welcome
the staff of LGBT Youth Groups are in schools by recounting her experience
of her local schools.
“They
seem confused about the appropriateness of inviting us in, so they don’t,”
the Minister heard.
Sue
Sanders thanked the Minister for her support for both the Lambeth ‘Tackling
Homophobia, Creating Safer Spaces’ project and LGBT History Month
(February). Jacqui Smith received a selection of the new LGBT History Month
badges.
Hopefully, Jacqui Smith will be able to attend some of the LGBT History
Month events in February, Ms. Sanders said.
■ Jacqui
Smith, as the Women and Equality Minister, was responsible for the Civil
Partnership Act and its passage through Parliament. The Act came into force
on Monday (December 5).
SEE ALSO
Stop Homophobia in Schools Petition Launched at Birmingham Pride.
A petition with a
difference was launched today at Birmingham Pride. The petition which
will be presented to Parliament in the autumn is to highlight the problem of
homophobia in schools. (UK Gay News, May 29, 2005)
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Recent Articles
(Please go to
Archive main
page
for full archive search)
December 6:
Latvia: Latvia Moving Backwards, Say Gay and Lesbian Intergroup of MEPs. Two leading Members of the European
Parliament’s gay and lesbian rights ‘Intergroup’ have today expressed
“serious concern” on the increased homophobia in Latvia.
Russia/UK: Sir Elton John Has No Gay Wedding Plans in Russia: Russian media reports strenuously denied. Recent press reports in Russia that
Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish were planning a wedding in St.
Petersburg have been strenuously denied by the singer’s representatives in
London.
December 5:
UK:
Timeline
Of Gay and Lesbian Marriage, Partnership or Unions Worldwide.
From the Netherlands in 1979 to the UK's new law effective today,
all the legislation - strong and weak - that recognises same-sex
partnerships to some degree or another.
Diane Abbott Welcomes Civil Partnership Bill. Member of Parliament Diane Abbott
today welcomed the coming into force of the new Civil Partnership Act. She
said it was a step forward for human rights and would bring Britain closer
to eradicating discrimination based on sexual orientation.
December 4:
UK:
“Only Same-Sex
Marriage Is Genuine Equality” – Outrage! The
legalisation of same-sex civil partnerships is a major milestone in
the struggle for lesbian and gay rights in the UK, says Brett Lock
of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights group
OutRage!
December 3:
Jamaica:
Jamaican HIV Defender Murdered On Eve of
World AIDS Day.
Steve Harvey from Christian Aid partner, Jamaica AIDS Support for
Life (JASL), has been murdered in
Jamaica. He ran a
programme providing support to gay men and sex workers.
December 1:
Latvia:
Block Put on Gay Marriage by Latvian
Parliament.
A change in the constitution that will define marriage as being
between a man and a woman, and blocks the way for “gay marriage”,
became a virtual certainty today when the 100-seat Latvian
parliament passed the proposal with a massive majority in the
amendment’s second reading.
November 30:
UK:
Kerrang Radio Faces Rap for Gay Sex Prank.
Birmingham-based
Kerrang Radio has been reported to airwaves regulator, OfCom, on
charges that it tricked a gay man into revealing intimate details
about his private life and later broadcast them without his
knowledge or consent.
Latvia:
Gays in Latvia Have an Official Watchdog.
A new independent department that will keep an eye on discrimination
has been set-up by the government in
Latvia. And the National
Human Rights Office will be embracing the gay and lesbian community
as well as other sections of society as well as racism and other
forms of discrimination.
November
28:
UK:
Over 58,000 Living With
HIV in UK. The number of people living with HIV in the UK
is now around 58,300, according to a report released last week by the
Health Protection Agency. The 2,185 new diagnoses in 2004 among gay
and bisexual men is the highest in the UK since 1990 .
November
27:
Poland: Thousands Back Gays in
Peaceful Polish Demonstrations.
More than 1,000
protestors assembled in the centre of Warsaw today demanding tolerance,
freedom of speech and the right of assembly, especially for gays. Similar
demonstrations were held over the weekend in other Polish cities – and
outside the Polish Embassies in Berlin and London.
November
25:
UK/Poland: London Joins Warsaw in
‘Solidarity Protest’ for Gay Rights in Poland. As gays in Warsaw – and their
allies – start their demonstration for equality in the Polish capital’s Plac Konstytucji (Constitution Place),
The UK Green Party will protest, described by the party as a “boutique
protest”, in solidarity outside the Polish embassy in London.
UK:
Derry Gays To Celebrate Introduction of Civil Partnerships. The Gay Community in
Derry, Northern Ireland, will celebrate the introduction of the new Civil Partnership
legislation with a major party for all.
UK:
MEP Slams EU For
“Gutless Hypocrisy” Over Plight of Polish Gays. A British Member of the
European Parliament has hit out at the homophobic attitudes being fostered
in Poland under the new right-wing government – has has charged that the
European Commission (EC) is “gutless”, while Amnesty International call for
the Polish government to fulfil its obligations to sexual minorities under
international human rights laws.
November
24:
UK:
Polish PM Slinks in Back Door to Avoid London Gay Protest.
Poland’s homophobic Prime
Minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, made an
undignified entrance via a side street to avoid gay rights protesters
picketing his lecture at Chatham House in London this afternoon
(November 24).
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