The mood at Bowmore Road Junior and Senior Public School was electric this week as a sea of students dressed in roses and fuchsia, teachers, parents and administrators celebrated this year’s International Pink Day with the school’s first personal meeting since COVID-19.
Many hours were spent in works of art in shades of pink, messages and decorations enlivening the halls of Toronto Elementary School; gleaming ribbons hung from the ceiling of the high school, and students and staff vigorously practiced their speeches and performances.
The whole school community took part in the event, held on Wednesday, the annual day to combat homophobia, transphobia, harassment and discrimination against people in the LGBTQ community.
“I feel like an important day because it’s an important day,” said Sebastian Carter, 13, an 8th-grader who was thrilled by the kind of personal gathering that COVID-19 “took away” from students.
Young LGBTQ people are a population severely affected by the continuing interruptions of personal learning from COVID-19, as the school is a place where many find a safe space among peers and teachers.
Faced with pandemic measures advising distance and isolation, some enterprising students and faculty have created lively LGBTQ communities online. However, as it gains momentum to return to life before the pandemic, advocates are urging decision-makers to keep the focus on LGBTQ youth, their challenges and the support they need.
Liv Gienap-Svenebi, left, and Sebastian Carter were among the students who spent hours planning and training for Wednesday’s event. (Alex Lupul / CBC)
“We need to talk about discrimination – and a lot of people don’t want to talk about it and they don’t want to say anything – but it’s an important topic and it needs to be shared,” Carter said.
“Ignoring him makes it an even bigger problem,” added 7th grader Liv Gienap-Svenebi.
The 12-year-old recognizes Bowmore’s Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) as a space where students learn about LGBTQ issues and experiences, as well as something that has changed the atmosphere at school.
Some conversations “may be awkward, but if we haven’t.” [the QSA]it will be even worse, “they said.
The job of ensuring that students have a place to study and engage in these sometimes awkward conversations remains a priority for Toronto High School teacher Kevin Doe.
Toronto High School teacher Kevin Doe helped create the Toronto County School Board’s Alliance’s online network for gender and sexuality during the pandemic. (Alex Lupul / CBC)
During the pandemic, a social studies and English teacher helped move gender and sexuality (GSA) personal groups online to the Toronto School Board.
“Teachers know that schools are safe places for many students and that their home life may look different from school,” he said.
“We learned this in our conversations with students when they talked about the challenges they face with their families, or the challenges they face when they don’t connect with their peers or friends.
“We know that strange people with two spirits, trance and BIPOC, need a space to connect outside the home.”
7th and 8th graders attend the International Pink Assembly Day 2022 at Bowmore Road Junior and Senior Public School. (Alex Lupul / CBC)
This was repeated by Trevor Goodyear, a registered nurse and doctoral student at the University of British Columbia. He is part of a team that monitors the mental health of various Canadian populations – including LGBTQ people – during the pandemic.
“We have seen many young people who feel more isolated and perhaps less supported [services] otherwise they could have access, “he said.
Goodyear and colleagues found that compared to heterosexual people, LGBT adults in Canada were more likely to cope with the pandemic, have suicidal thoughts and use substances as a way to cope. Recent reports from US researchers and peers have found similar trends among LGBTQ youth, he said.
“When we look at some of the mental health impacts of the pandemic and the public health restrictions we need, LGBTQ youth is a group that is particularly affected,” he said.
“As we said, this is a group that is very strong and resilient and can be very well supported by our schools and social environment – and I encourage schools to really play this important and valuable role in supporting and protecting [their] well-being. “
Registered nurse Trevor Goodyear, who has experience in mental health care for LGBTQ youth, is currently investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of various populations, including LGBTQ people. (Submitted by Trevor Goodyear)
Students drive change
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, Doe, the TDSB teacher, saw a change in the culture of students advocating for justice and inclusion.
“Ever since the beginning of the school year, I have noticed that my students present themselves with their pronouns, which has not happened before,” he said. “Their fingers are on the pulse. They know the terminology. They know the problems. They want to go deeper. ”
While bullying in schools has unfortunately been followed in online spaces and “we still know there is work to be done”, Doe is encouraged by the energy that students have.
“They are excited to be personal, they are excited and ready to embark on new initiatives.”
LGBTQ people still face bullying or injury while in school, but the very fact that the school exists as a space where the student is independent and surrounded by other young people is key, said Debbie Ovusu-Akieah, executive director of the school. in the Ottawa Canadian Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity.
“It is this mechanism of equality that is so important … And what the pandemic has done for so many people has been cut off,” she explained.
While she said she felt isolated against COVID-19, Owusu-Akyeeah noted that as an adult in her own home, “I can connect with my friends” and I don’t mind saying the word “lesbian”, which someone will hurt me. “
“While these young people, even when they were at home, even when some of these resources are moving online, they are still facing challenges,” she said. “It simply came to our notice then. This has made participation in gay straight unions – even virtual ones – a great challenge for some young people.
WATCH LGBTQ Youth Building Community Online, via TikTok, Discord:
“Sustainable and resourceful” young people from LBGTQ build an online community against the backdrop of COVID-19
Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, executive director of the Canadian Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity, on the valuable online communities that LGBTQ youth have built in the wake of the pandemic and how this is an inspiring change in the organizations that support them. 1:51
Still, Owusu-Akyeeah is inspired by the ingenuity in the way youth and LGBTQ agencies find new ways to connect.
Colleagues from the Ontario-based LGBT youth line, for example, quickly switched to text and online services – and immediately saw a leap in the youth who connect with them through these new pathways, she said. Owusu-Akyeeah said she was also stunned by young people using platforms such as Discord, TikTok and Instagram to create new LGBTQ communities and discussion spaces.
This fearlessness offers lessons both to the agencies that serve this population on how best to reach them and to school and government officials at all levels on what these young people want and need, Owusu-Akyeeah said.
Adult decision-makers need to be “more proactive and less reactive” in dealing with issues affecting this group, she added, as nearly a third of LGBTQ Canadians are under the age of 25, according to Statistics Canada.
“I want to see bold, joint efforts to make sure we are preventive and ensure that young people are protected and supported.
More than 1 day event
At Henry G. Izatt High School in Winnipeg, 9th graders tasked with designing T-shirts for a class project focused on two LGBTQ themes: Pride Celebration and International Pink Day.
Students have led the process from the beginning, said teacher Alice Cowie, from BIPOC students discussing how to express unity in their logo design to a trans student who emphasizes the use of gender-neutral language.
Caughy said she was “living the teacher’s dream” and could simply guide their passion for the project. “I can take a step back and learn from them,” she said.
Although a blizzard closed most schools in Manitoba on Wednesday, students, teachers and families from Henry G. Izat High School in Winnipeg wore T-shirts for International Pink T-Shirt Day, designed by 9th graders at home, said teacher Alice Cowie. (Submitted by Alyssa Caughy)
Choosing International Pink Day as a theme just made sense, said 14-year-old student Trinity Frank.
“Pink Day – it’s about everyone’s differences and how everyone should be treated equally,” they said. “We just live by inclusion and equality because we’re a very diverse group. So it meant a lot to us to be able to show that to people and have a visual presentation.”
For Trinity Frank and their classmates, International Pink Day was a natural choice for a T-shirt theme. “We just live by inclusion and equality because we are a very diverse group. So it meant a lot to us to be able to show that, “said Frank, who was seen here at his home in Winnipeg on Wednesday with their dog Storm. (Submitted by Trinity Frank)
A monster-sized storm eventually thwarted the school’s plans to mark Wednesday, although some wore T-shirts during distance learning.
However, Cowie believes that postponing the celebration – hopefully next week – underscores that the values expressed on International Pink Day go beyond a one-off event.
“We wear pink on Pink Day, but the attitudes and beliefs that are represented …
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