Despite being progressive on gay rights – and allowing gay marriage – young Canadian queers still face hardships:
In the first national survey on homophobia in Canadian schools, released last month by Egale Canada, participating LGBTQ teens overwhelmingly said they’re not treated as equals in the classroom. More than two-thirds, for example, reported feeling unsafe at school based on their sexuality, as opposed to one in five straight participants.
More than half of LGBTQ participants reported being verbally harassed, about half said they had mean rumours spread about them, and a quarter reported being physically harassed.
Although there are some positive social changes, like Canadians gaining gay marriage rights in 2005, the teen survey results show that LGBTQ people still aren’t treated as normal, Kennedy said.
This could explain why half of LGBTQ teens surveyed said they’ve told either only a few friends, or no one, of their sexual orientation.
Yeah, that sucks and all, but, things could be worse: you could be a teenager forever. Ahhhhhh!
Snoodle
As a fresh high school graduate I can attest to this actually…I don’t even know where it comes from! The teachers (at least at my school) are all exceptionally tolerant, but then over half of the student body is just blood awful :s
michael
Personally for me, high school was the worst time of my life. I was not bullied or anything but I saw other kids bullied and made fun because of their clothes, their looks their social standing. I believe that high school age youth are the worst. I don’t know why this is but they are.
conrad
go figure. gay marriage does nothing to combat homophobia on a day to day level.
so why are we fighting so hard for it?
Mike
Our fight for civil liberties has nothing to do with being accepted by society. All of society is never going completely accept GLBT people. Many racial groups have fought for civil liberties but racial discrimination still exists. Women have fought and won some civil liberties and there is still sexism in the world. High school is just an extension of the world at large. Some of the kids and faculty will accept GLBT kids and some will not.
Charles J. Mueller
Mike is right on the money, Conrad. Acceptance, while certainly desirable, is only part of the equation. Gay marriage, really does not do a good job of describing the larger picture, which is really about civil rights for GLBT people.
We, like other minorities have had to do in the past, are fighting equality in the job place, in housing, inheritance issues and for all the some 1050 federal financial benefits that we contribute to with our tax money, but which we are sadly denied.
Then there is the issue of Gay Immigration which hits me especially close to home as I am one of the some 32,000 couples involved in a multi-national relationship.
Since meeting mhy Philippine partner five and a half years ago, we have been involved in a difficult struggle to get a student or visitors visa from the US Immigration people. With the discriminatory attitude our government is showing the GLBT community, it would be easier pulling hen’s teeth, as the old expression goes.
You may not think that you need gay marriage, but the truth is, you really do. If for no other reason, just to have the right, like straight folks, to say “Thanks, but no thanks. I’d prefer to remain single.”
That’s true freedom. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.