Josh Curran Photo/The Ubyssey

To be queer in Vancouver is to be relatively lucky; we respect each other and we are fortunate enough to live in a city with a large queer community and the amenities needed to help ensure the health and safety of the members of the community. I firmly believe that Vancouverites on the whole are accepting of the queer community, that no matter how one identifies and presents themselves in public, we have the opportunity to be respected and accepted.

But these are rights that we have earned over time, and they’re rights that we need to continue protecting. The right that matters most to me is our right to receive an education free from discrimination and hostility.

The Vancouver School Board (VSB) was a pioneer in this regard. They were one of the first school districts in British Columbia to create a comprehensive LGBTQ policy, including explicit protection for LGBTQ students in the district code of conduct, in the exact same way that the board also protects religious expression and racial diversity. For students who are already dealing with the everyday problems of being a high school student, being attacked for an integral part of who you are is unnecessary and cruel.

This past year was an election year in Vancouver. Two Non-Partisan Association candidates for the VSB, Ken Denike and Sophia Woo, came under attack from progressive groups and other school board members after video surfaced of them misrepresenting the policy. They promised to oppose any attempt to bring in a policy with special LGBTQ protections—despite the fact that such a policy had been in place since 2004.

Denike and Woo were still elected as trustees on the VSB.

The 2011 election showed us that even now, protections and rights that the queer community thought safe are coming under attack from those who do not believe these protections are needed or valid in our society.

While the VSB is a leader, it is also mostly alone. Of the 60 school districts in British Columbia, only 15 have any sort of policy meant to address homophobic or transphobic bullying. We should not accept the idea that your level of protection from queer bullying and discrimination depends on which city or district you happen to live in. More work needs to be done to ensure that everyone, regardless of who they are or how they present themselves or how they identify, has the ability to grow and be nurtured by our education system.

The VSB policy was created because a few people saw a need that was not being addressed. A similar policy in Burnaby was created by a small group of people who did not accept doing nothing as an answer to intolerance. These are district-wide policies that specify a zero-tolerance atmosphere for homophobic and transphobic terms in the school system, and also encourage staff to integrate queer themes where appropriate to the curriculum.

Statistics have shown that members of the queer community are more likely to be bullied and more likely to attempt suicide. Many UBC students were not born in Vancouver, and some still live in other cities. Look to see what your district has as their policy, and fight to create one if there is not one already in place. The only way we’re going to stop hearing about queer youth suicides is if we work to prevent the causes.

Change can come, and it does not have to wait. Each of us alone can start action to help make life a little bit safer for students who truly are in need.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...