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Guide to Supporting a Student to Affirm or Transition Gender Identity at School 

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Guide to Supporting a Student to Affirm or Transition Gender Identity at School 

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Teaching Resources | Student Wellbeing Hub

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Immerse yourself in a broad array of primary and secondary teaching resources for students' wellbeing.

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" The Cissy" is the third episode in the eighteenth season of the American animated television series . The 250th overall episode, it was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 8, 2014. The episode explores the culture of transgender individuals and gender identity.

Getting tired of the stalls in the boys' room being occupied, Eric Cartman puts a bow on his hat and claims to be "transginger" (a malapropism of transgender) in order to use the girls' toilets at school. Principal Victoria is unimpressed, but Mr. Garrison advises her to give in to avoid the scandal Cartman is almost certain to cause. The girls however are disgusted at Cartman's presence in their toilets, so the school compromises by installing a very fancy transgender toilet in the janitor's room.

Meanwhile, following the previous episode " Gluten Free Ebola" in which Randy Marsh appeared to impersonate Lorde for the children's party, it is now revealed that Randy actually is Lorde, who does not otherwise exist. Randy is struggling to keep this secret from both his wife Sharon, and from a suspicious Spin magazine reporter named Brandon Carlile.

To get back at Cartman for his actions, Wendy uses Cartman's private bathroom by claiming to be transgender herself, using the name "Wendyl". Cartman is furious at losing his private room. After angrily confronting Principal Victoria, Cartman takes his anger out on Wendy's boyfriend Stan by saying dating her makes him gay. Stan, now confused, attempts to discuss gender identity with his father, but Randy misunderstands and instead reveals to Stan that he actually is Lorde. He explains that he started using the women's bathroom at work out of convenience, pretending to be a woman, but eventually found the bathroom to be conducive to creating music. He even shows Stan how he uses home studio software to make himself sound like a girl on a song. This leaves Stan even more confused. At the Geological Survey, Randy/Lorde's boss proposes a separate bathroom to appease the other women at the office; however, Randy/Lorde says the bathroom is critical for his/her musical creations.

reports that Lorde is abandoning music and Spin will reveal the singer's secret. Cartman teases Stan about his gender confusion issues, coining the insult "cissy", based on the term " cisgender". Sharon comforts Randy and indirectly encourages him to continue to express himself as Lorde. Randy completes another, more personal song called "Push (Feel Good on a Wednesday)". Enjoying the music, and realizing the deep personal meaning behind it, the female geologists decide to accept Randy's alias, and Brandon Carlile (the Spin magazine reporter) deletes his exposé on Lorde. The school decides to get rid of the transgender bathroom and allow anyone to use the bathroom with which they are most comfortable, thus foiling Cartman's plans. For those who are bothered by transgender people, a new designation is made to keep them away from the normal people who do not care: cissy bathrooms. Forced by Butters to use that bathroom, Stan begins to appreciate it and sings a song similar to Lorde's.

Series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone had the Cartman gender storyline figured out from the start of the production on the episode, but virtually had nothing else to go with it for much of the production cycle. In " Gluten Free Ebola", the previous episode and second of this season, the boys are still despised for their behavior in the first episode of the season, " Go Fund Yourself". Parker and Stone liked the idea of having a story carry over from one episode to the next so decided to expand on that in doing it again. (More episodes in the future would also feature this theme; the nineteenth season in particular featured this in a major way, with every episode in the season - except for the first - carrying over a story from the previous episode. The idea from "Gluten Free Ebola" they chose was the scene where Randy pretends to be Lorde. To play with this idea some more for this episode, they decided to make it so that Randy really was Lorde, in part because some reviewers of the previous episode thought this really was the case and gave criticism for it.

The fictional Lorde's song "Push (Feel Good on a Wednesday)" was sang by Sia. Sia confirmed her involvement in an interview with NME in February 2015, and also praised the song written by Trey Parker. Sia assumed that Lorde would "find it funny".

The episode was originally called "Cartman's Bathroom".

The episode received a B+ from 's Eric Thurm. IGN's contributor Max Nicholson gave the episode a 7.5 out of 10.

Slate's Christin Scarlett Milloy lauded the episode's approach to transgender issues, noting, "when it comes to trans in mainstream media, it seems the tables have finally begun to turn".

Lorde parodied the portrayal of herself in the episode by stating some of the lines her character said. She later stated, "...We actually, in my hotel room, went 'Ya ya ya ya ya I'm Lorde! Ya ya ya!' for like an hour..." Lorde, overall, reacted positively towards the episode, posting praise for its themes and humor on her Instagram account.

1. ^ Heggs, Melanie (February 21, 2015). "Sia Confirms Involvement In 'South Park' Lorde Parody, 'Chandelier' Singer Figured 'Royals' Artist Would 'Find It Funny'". Fashion & Style. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016.

2. ^ "Fan Questions: Do you pick episode names before production, or during it?". South Park Studios (July 7, 2015). Retrieved February 5, 2016.

3. ^ Milloy, Christin Scarlett (October 9, 2014). "South Park Takes on Trans Issues ... and It's Great". slate.com.

4. ^ Payne, Chris (October 9, 2014). "Watch Lorde Return to 'South Park' & See Her Reaction". . Archived from the original on December 1, 2016.

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" The Cissy" is the third episode in the eighteenth season of the American animated television series . The 250th overall episode, it was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 8, 2014.

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Support for students and staff at UNSW

The Arc Representative Council has a Queer Collective to support and represent all students on campus who are queer - that is, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, genderqueer, asexual or anywhere within the Queer spectrum.

The Women's Department provides a Women's room in the Blockhouse that is an alternative safe and autonomous space with a kitchenette, comfortable furnishings, and a computer with internet access.

A mailing list for queer students to find out about upcoming social events.

QueerSpace: Room 920, Chemical Sciences Building (F10)

This room is an allocated space for Queer students to meet socially as well as for the Arc Queer/LGBT Department to hold its meetings.

Free and confidential service to all students enrolled at UNSW. Staff seeking counselling should contact the Employee Assistance Program.

Various support and lobby groups for family, friends, and members of the LGBTIQ community.

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The Arc Representative Council has a Queer Collective to support and represent all students on campus who are queer - that is, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, genderqueer, asexual or anywhere within the Queer spectrum.

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Alok Vaid-Menon is an Indian-American writer, performance artist, and media personality who performs under the moniker ALOK. Alok is gender non-conforming and transfeminine and uses singular they pronouns

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Alok Vaid-Menon is an Indian-American writer, performance artist, and media personality who performs under the moniker ALOK. Alok is gender non-conforming and transfeminine and uses singular they pronouns

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oRIgv-L7_S_FgjwpHU-5YEi2nPwa-At1R7Y3jFVjPVI/mobilebasic

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Sydney Uni's Library promoting a significant LGBTQIA+ activist (Peter de Waal)

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Sydney Uni's Library promoting a significant LGBTQIA+ activist (Peter de Waal)

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Peter de Waal - Reconciliation Week (May 2019, Sydney Town Hall)

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Peter de Waal (left) with his partner
Peter Bonsall-Boone

Peter will speak about what it was like being a homosexual couple in the 1960s and 1970s and the challenge of being 'out' in that era. After sharing this personal story, Peter will participate in a 30-minute Q and A session about his work as an activist.

Don't miss this opportunity to meet a true pioneer of LGBTQIA+ rights as we commemorate the fighting spirit of all those, like Peter, who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of so many.

About the speaker

Peter de Waal AM is a long-term LGBTQIA+ rights activist and author. Among his many achievements, he was a foundation member of CAMP Inc (Campaign Against Moral Persecution) in 1970, the first national homosexual rights organisation in Australia and publisher of the monthly magazine , from 1970 to 1977.

Peter was involved in the first homosexual rights demonstration in Sydney in 1971 in support of law reform. In 1972, he appeared on the ABC program Chequerboard, together with his partner Peter Bonsall-Boone. In 1973, they established the first Australian volunteer homosexual telephone help line, Phone-A-Friend, now called Twenty10 - Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service.

A few years later, Peter's initiation of the first-ever Tribunal on Homosexuals and Discrimination resulted in the NSW State Government developing anti-discrimination legislation. Peter became a member of the Sydney-based Gay Task Force in the late 1970s, and participated in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978.

During the 1980s, Peter was a health promotion coordinator at the Bankstown Community Health Centre, and a volunteer immigration advisor with the NSW Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force from 1989 to 1998.

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Celebrating LGBT History Month with Peter de Waal AM - Library News

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Peter will speak about what it was like being a homosexual couple in the 1960s and 1970s and the challenge of being 'out' in that era. After sharing this personal story, Peter will participate in a 30-minute Q and A session about his work as an activist.

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pride in practice training academy: lgbt leadership: module 10

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pride in practice training academy: lgbt leadership: module 10 tickets

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Pride in Practice Training Academy: LGBT Leadership: Module 10

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Eventbrite - LGBT Foundation presents Pride in Practice Training Academy: LGBT Leadership: Module 10 - Monday, June 8, 2020 - Find event and ticket information.

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LGBT Leadership Institute - LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation

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The LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation Leadership Institute has been created to develop leadership skills for LGBT and ally professionals. The program aims to provide participants with valuable skills and knowledge along with an historical view of the LGBT community and equality movement.

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PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service

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This year's LGBT Leaders STEM was a vivid array of corporations and community leaders coming together to show queer young people our identities, above all, are our "superpowers".

The Amazon HQ was packed with aspiring STEM hopefuls earlier this month, all eager to hear insight from tech leaders and queer activists from across the UK.

If this is the first time you're hearing about it, LGBT Leaders is a series of conferences organised by PinkNews, hosted by Amazon, with the aim of addressing the troubling fact that 41 per cent of undergraduates go back into the closet after starting their first job.

More than half of LGBT+ employees don't come out at work because they fear that they will face discrimination from managers and colleagues, according to an international survey conducted by Vodafone.

LGBT Leaders STEM is looking to change that statistic, and, in doing so, change the fear that LGBT+ people experience all too often in the workplace.

Dozens of tech experts had travelled to London to lead panels discussing everything from bi+ visibility in the workplace to workshops on polishing up their LinkedIn profiles.

Our LGBT+ identities are our 'superpowers'.

Industry leaders from online bank Monzo to the Financial Times, fashion retailer Net-A-Porter to video games supergiant Playstation came together for the day. Alongside activists and advocacy groups pushing the binaries and boundaries of what it means to be queer and work in STEM.

Shattering expectations was more than a hobby for Meri Williams, the chief technology officer for Monzo. For the event's first talk, Williams, a Stonewall trustee, told conference-goers about her experience of being a minority in her workplace.

"Fin-tech and banking generally do not have a long tradition of gender inclusiveness," she said, "for any gender, except one."

"I joke that I'm literally the one that the Daily Mail warned you about, I'm a woman working in tech, an immigrant with a job, I'm queer and I'm disabled and I'm neurodiverse.

"So, I'm literally over here stealing your women and your jobs."

Class and disability are two intersections of Williams' identity that she has, in moments, struggled with in the STEM world. "There are days when I'm on crutches or in a wheelchair and people treat me very differently depending on how visibility disabled I am on any given day," she explained.

Having to come out over and over again as disabled, William said, and battling assumptions "is more challenging because it's much easier to mention my wife in conversation and I've been very out in that respect".

Similarly, jumping in on the panel was director of strategy of Wellcome, Ed Whiting. He described LGBT+ workers who first formed queer networks in workspaces as "pioneers".

He added: "We are far too white, far too male and far too straight."

Whiting described that when his organisation had everyone sit around in a room and explain a time when they felt "excluded" really brought the room together. Forging lines of solidarity.

Ultimately, Williams said, our identities are "our superpowers".

People who come out and stay out in the workplace must be commended for their 'bravery'.

This was echoed in another panel discussing coding, data and software, where there's more to companies and employees hurling a rainbow lanyard on when it comes to diversity.

Really privileged to be part of this amazing panel this morning! So inspiring to hear of everyone's different route into tech and how we need to come together to create safe spaces in our workplaces @LGBTLeaders #PinkNewsSTEM https://t.co/6fzQ19g64v

- Natasha Wright (@toish100) February 15, 2020

Moreover, the "bravery" people must show to be LGBT+ in these fields must not be ignored, whether by new recruits or senior managers.

Members of the Proud Science Alliance - comprising the pharmaceutical trilogy of GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Pfizer - teamed-up to give attendees advice and practical insight into how they can be the leaders of tomorrow. Diversity, the group argued, is a source of invaluable strength.

But while the "diversity" can feel, at times, tacked on my companies. A simple tick box. Writer Vaneet Mehta told a panel discussing bi+ visibility that the phrase 'LGBT+', "often tends to distil just... gay.

"It needs to be changed as it's harmful to all sexualities."

Ultimately, the roster showed the graduates-to-be that whether pursing pharmaceuticals, coding or eager to suit-up and head into banking, sexuality and gender identity is no reason to doubt yourself.

As Financial Times principal engineer Dawn Budge said after the event: "I would have found this so helpful had it existed when I was a grad/new professional and its really encouraging to see things get better for this generation."

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This is why queer graduates' identities are their 'superpowers'

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This year's LGBT Leaders STEM was a vivid array of corporations and community leaders coming together to show queer young people our identities, above all, are our "superpowers". The Amazon HQ was packed with aspiring STEM hopefuls earlier this month, all eager to hear insight from tech leaders and queer activists from across the UK.

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News

Courageous Leaders: The Book
is out now

Courage in the Classroom shares the stories of our programme alumni, offering advice and practice for LGBT inclusion in schools. This book will be of interest to headteachers, senior leadership teams, governors, policy makers and teachers. Get your copy at www.johncattbookshop.com
(all profits go into funding Courageous Leaders).

British Diversity Awards Shortlist

Courageous Leaders has been shortlisted in the 'Community Project of the Year' category of the British Diversity Awards - celebrating organisations and individuals who champion diversity across the UK.

DIVA Awards

Dr Catherine Lee has been nominated for a Diva Award in the category of Diversity Champion of the Year.

National Diversity Awards

Courageous Leaders has been nominated for a National Diversity Award and Courageous Leaders founder and Lead, Jane Robinson is also nominated as Role Model of the Year.

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News Courageous Leaders: The Bookis out now Courage in the Classroom shares the stories of our programme alumni, offering advice and practice for LGBT inclusion in schools. This book will be of interest to headteachers, senior leadership teams, governors, policy makers and teachers. Get your copy at www.johncattbookshop.com (all profits go into funding Courageous Leaders).

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Pride is a time for celebration and acceptance. Rainbow flags are hoisted high, droves rush to parades, and LGBTQ-identifying people and allies adorn their best Pride regalia. But it's also a time to honor the people who have paved the way for gay rights activism, like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, or become cultural icons through their work, like writers Virginia Woolf and Ifti Nasim.

In honor of Pride Month, discover some of history's most prominent LGBTQ figures and their lasting impacts.

Sylvia Rivera was a queer, Latina, self-identified drag queen who fought tirelessly for transgender rights, as well as for the rights of gender-nonconforming people. After the Stonewall riots, where she was said to have thrown the first brick, Rivera started S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), a group focused on providing shelter and support to queer, homeless youth, with Marsha P. Johnson. She also fought against the exclusion of transgender people in New York's Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act. She was an activist even on her deathbed, meeting with the Empire State Pride Agenda about trans inclusion.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was a black trans woman, a sex worker, and an activist who spent much of her life fighting for equality. She served as a mother figure to the drag queens, trans women, and homeless youth of Christopher Street in New York City. She was alongside Sylvia Rivera at the beginning of the Stonewall riots, and together they founded S.T.A.R. Johnson, along with Rivera, was a central figure in the beginning of the gay liberation movement of the 1970s in the United States.

Josephine Baker was a well-known entertainer of the Jazz Age and identified as bisexual. She was one of the most successful African-American performers in French history and used her platform as an entertainer to advocate for desegregation, refusing to perform in segregated venues and even speaking at the 1963 March on Washington. Baker also served as a spy for the French during World War II, passing along secrets she heard while performing for German soldiers.

Ulrichs is regarded by some as the pioneer of the modern gay movement and the first person to publicly "come out." In fact, Volkmar Sigusch, a leading German scholar in sexual science, described him as "the most decisive and influential pioneer of homosexual emancipation ... in world history." Ulrichs was a judge in Germany but was forced to resign in 1854 after a colleague discovered he was gay. After he resigned, he became an activist for gay rights. He wrote pamphlets about being gay in Germany and, in August 29, 1867, Ulrichs spoke in Munich at the Congress of Jurists to demand legal equal rights for all sexualities.

Michael Dillon was the first trans man to undergo phalloplasty, or the surgical construction of a penis. He also is thought to be the first person to undergo testosterone therapy to begin his transition. Dillon then became a doctor and eventually served as a naval doctor. However, the press discovered that Dillon was not born male, and the attention caused him to flee to India. There, he took vows to become a monk in a Buddhist monastery.

The iconic feminist writer was married to Leonard Woolf while having an affair with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West, who was openly bisexual. When writing about her affair and marriage, Woolf said in her journal, "The truth is one has room for a good many relationships. "Her novel, , is thought to be a love letter to her relationship with Sackville-West. Sackville-West's son described the novel as "the longest and most charming love letter in literature."

Bayard Rustin was a close friend and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. However, because he was an openly gay man, he did not receive wide recognition for his integral role in the civil rights movement. Rustin's sexuality was used against him and Dr. King by opposing parties, who threatened to spread lies about their relationship. This forced Rustin to work in the shadows to prevent bringing further controversy to both Dr. King and the March on Washington. Despite this, Rustin still remained a political and gay activist, working to bring the AIDS crisis to the NAACP's attention.

The former First Lady was a dedicated humanitarian, chairing the committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the United Nations and promoting social activism both during and after her time at the White House. While married to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was thought to have had an affair with journalist Lorena Hickok, the first woman to have her byline appear on the front page of the New York Times. Their letters, almost 4,000 of them, chronicle a passionate romance. One includes a note from Roosevelt saying, "Oh! how good it was to hear your voice, it was so inadequate to try & tell you what it meant, Jimmy was near & I couldn't say 'je t'aime et je t'adore' as I longed to do but always remember I am saying it & that I go to sleep thinking of you & repeating our little saying."

Frida Kahlo was a gifted painter and openly bisexual. She used her medium to depict taboo topics, like female sexuality, pain, and feminine beauty standards, primarily through self-portraits. She also honored indigenous Mexican culture through her art, which drew the attention of Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Rivera became her patron and the two eventually married. During their marriage, Kahlo was known to have affairs with men and women, including Josephine Baker and Leon Trotsky.

Playwright and director Nancy Cárdenas is thought to be one of the first Mexican people to openly come out on television. Much of her work revolved around her lesbian identity, writing collections of poetry and plays addressing gay and lesbian themes. She wasn't only a writer-she was also an activist. Cárdenas helped start the struggle against gay prejudice in Mexico and fought for equal rights for everyone, no matter their sexuality.

Simon Nkoli is seen by many as the central hero of the gay and lesbian struggle in South Africa. He was an anti-apartheid, gay rights, and HIV/AIDS activist who founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW). In 1990, Nkoli and GLOW organized the first Pride March in Johannesburg. They also played an integral role in convincing the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling political party, to formally recognize gay and lesbian rights in the country. Five years later, Nkoli declared his HIV positive status and began working to destigmatize HIV/AIDS.

Ifti Nasim was a gay Pakistani poet who moved to the United States to avoid persecution for his sexuality. His collection of poems, Narman, is thought to be the first gay-themed book of poetry written and published in Urdu. He also founded SANGAT/Chicago, an organization which supported the South Asian LGBTQ community. Nasim was honored in 1996 by being inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

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12 Historic LGBTQ Figures Who Changed the World

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Pride is a time for celebration and acceptance. Rainbow flags are hoisted high, droves rush to parades, and LGBTQ-identifying people and allies adorn their best Pride regalia. But it's also a time to honor the people who have paved the way for gay rights activism, like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P.

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LGBT Leaders | The conference for LGBT Students

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Please note, the LGBT+ Inclusion Award's Pilot is now closed. date for the next scheme tba.

The LGBT+ Inclusion Award is a programme set up in partnership with the equality, diversity and inclusion teams at De Montfort University, the University of Leicester, Leicestershire Police, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicester LGBT Centre. The award provides visible recognition for organisations across the region for their commitment to LGBT+ inclusive practices.

Applying for the award will consist of submitting evidence including any policies that you have in place for assessment. On completion of the assessment, a partner might arrange a visit to your organisation to identify strengths, learning and to provide support for further development. After passing the final assessment your organisation will be provided with an LGBT+ Inclusion Award certificate for external display and you will be invited to attend an annual awards ceremony. Further information about the programme can be found at www.leicesterlgbtcentre.org/lgbt-inclusion-award or by telephoning Leicester LGBT Centre on 0116 254 7412.

Please note, The LGBT+ Inclusion Award is currently only accepting applications from organisations and businesses in the pilot scheme, organisations and businesses outside of the scheme are welcome to download the form and register their interest to inclusion@leicesterlgbtcentre.org

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LGBT Inclusion Award - Leicester LGBT Centre

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The LGBT+ Inclusion Award is a programme set up in partnership with the equality, diversity and inclusion teams at De Montfort University, the University of Leicester, Leicestershire Police, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicester LGBT Centre. The award provides visible recognition for organisations across the region for their commitment to LGBT+ inclusive practices.

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t was not long ago that LGBT pupils at the Priory School in Hitchen, Hertfordshire, hid behind a mask of silence. Fellow students used the word "gay" to describe something that was rubbish. Faced with homophobic language, they felt unable to come out in the classroom and kept their true identities secret.

Three years later, dozens of students have come out thanks to a "massive culture shift" in school. Today, diversity and inclusion are celebrated across all aspects of school life: from the setting up of an LGBT drop-in group and appointment of an LGBT student champion, to changes in the curriculum and the building of gender-neutral toilets and changing rooms. Indeed, the school has established such a reputation for equality it is attracting transgender pupils from neighbouring areas.

Priory now has a resident counsellor and has forged close links with local child and adolescent mental health services. Sixteen staff have also been trained in mental health first aid.

Assistant head Katie Southall has led the transformation. Responsible for student wellbeing, Southall realised that more needed to be done to promote equality and diversity. Surveys of young people who identify as LGBT revealed that many are at high risk of mental health problems.

The 2016 Youth Chances survey, conducted by the charity Metro in collaboration with the University of Greenwich, found that out of the 6,414 respondents aged 16-25 who took part in the survey and identified themselves as LGBT, some 44% said they had considered suicide.

Southall says: "We realised from an annual survey on student wellbeing that lots of students identified as gay or LGBT, but didn't want to be open about it. We are now in a position where pupils are openly transgender, gay, bi, lesbian or gender questioning. For those who are transgender we have procedures in place for name changes and work together with the young person. That can mean getting people who have transitioned to come in and talk to young people."

LGBT role models have also visited the school, including actor Sir Ian McKellen, co-founder of LGBT charity Stonewall, who spoke to 35 student members of the weekly LGBT drop-in group. "One sixth-former who is gay said he wished the school had been as open when he was in key stage 3," Southall says.

Meanwhile Arbury primary school in Cambridge is working hard to promote diversity and has become a beacon of good practice. It has adopted a range of initiatives to stamp out gender stereotypes across the school, from abolishing pink- and blue-coloured name badges for reception children, to having a non-gendered school uniform.

Children are taught to respect difference from the start in reception: through picture books showing different types of families, and talks during circle time highlighting the school's golden rules. Displays of materials from Stonewall with the slogan: "Different families, same love" are posted around the school, which also celebrates LGBT history month.

Staff are trained to understand how stereotyped views of how boys or girls should behave can prevent them from reaching their potential. Senior teacher Kathy Whiting says the school advises other schools on creating a trans-inclusive environment, including training on the use of inclusive language.

Headteacher Ben Tull says: "It is really important that a school is ready for anyone who walks in. For children at primary level, the more we can do to non-stereotype them the better. We steer away from the binary model."

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Supporting LGBTI pupils: 'It's important a school is ready for anyone'

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t was not long ago that LGBT pupils at the Priory School in Hitchen, Hertfordshire, hid behind a mask of silence. Fellow students used the word "gay" to describe something that was rubbish. Faced with homophobic language, they felt unable to come out in the classroom and kept their true identities secret.

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Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools

Professor Jonathan Glazzard currently leads on research in the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. Jonathan's research focusses on various aspects of inclusive education, including disability, mental health and sexuality. He is committed to the principle of giving voice to children and young people who have experienced discrimination in schools. Jonathan has used a range of methodological approaches to explore issues of marginalisation. These include life history, auto-ethnography, fictional narratives, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, audio-diaries and participatory approaches.
Join the conversation: check out BERA's extensive calendar of upcoming events, featuring seminars, symposia, workshops and conferences covering every aspect of educational research. Or, consider contributing a blog of your own - here's how.

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Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools Professor Jonathan Glazzard currently leads on research in the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. Jonathan's research focusses on various aspects of inclusive education, including disability, mental health and sexuality.

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Top 10 tips for LGBT inclusion in the workplace

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People perform better when they can be themselves, and if you're looking to make sure that lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) people are fully included in your workplace, we've got some tips to help. 1. Ensure that your policies are fully inclusive of LGBT people ...

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In 2017, the Women's Programme began a pilot scheme to ensure that our work is relevant and representative of all the lesbian and bisexual women in Greater Manchester. This came about as a result of consultations with the community, and looking at our own data that showed the majority of women accessing our services were mainly white, cisgender and/or young(<50).

In 2019 we produced a resource about the importance of this work, with an aim to share some of the experiences of LGBT+ women with multiple minority identities and experiences. This resource is a result of the learning of the last 3 years and make it accessible to those looking to learn more and/or improve their services.

The resource does not cover all experiences, but hopes to start a conversation about how experiences can overlap, connect and should all be considered when looking to create truly inclusive spaces and services.

The guide can be downloaded as a PDF below or contact women@lgbt.foundation if you are interested in a printed copy.

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In 2017, the Women's Programme began a pilot scheme to ensure that our work is relevant and representative of all the lesbian and bisexual women in Greater Manchester. This came about as a result of consultations with the community, and looking at our own data that showed the majority of women accessing our services were mainly white, cisgender and/or young(<50).

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This report provides an overview of the experience of LGBT students at the University and includes a list of recommendations for improving the LGBT student experience.

About this report

The pilot study upon which this report is based was the first to focus solely on the LGBT student experience at the University. Additionally, the study was almost certainly a first for the Australian higher education sector.

This report addresses the dearth of knowledge about LGBT students in Australia by drawing upon results of an anonymous online survey of 264 LGBT students from UWA. The students were asked about their perception and experience of being LGBT at UWA. It is hoped that the report will make a valuable contribution to diversity initiatives and to future data collection and comparison.

This project was funded by the UWA Alumni Fund Grants. The report was written by Dr Duc Dau and Penelope Strauss.

Aims of the report

The aims of the research project were twofold: to ask LGBT students directly about their experience at UWA and to offer recommendations to the University and the Student Guild for improving the LGBT student experience.

The recommendations in the report are based on feedback from participants of the study as well as best practice from around the globe. The report identifies where future efforts can be best placed for the University and the Student Guild to address the needs of students of diverse sexualities and genders.

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The Experience of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Students at The University of Western Australia: Research Report 2016

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This report provides an overview of the experience of LGBT students at the University and includes a list of recommendations for improving the LGBT student experience. The pilot study upon which this report is based was the first to focus solely on the LGBT student experience at the University.

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WITH O-Week imminent, new research has revealed only one in 10 Australian universities' equal opportunity policies fully reflect legally binding anti-discrimination legislation when it comes to protecting LGBTI students.

The findings from the first-ever Australian LGBTI University Guide, which goes live online today, shines a spotlight on those universities that are leading the field when it comes to publicly promoting LGBTI inclusion, and those that are lagging behind.

Produced by the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (GLRL) and the Star Observer with the support of student-led professional development program Out for Sydney, Transgender Victoria and Organisation Intersex International Australia, the guide looked at a wide range of criteria.

These included the existence of LGBTI student and staff groups and the breadth of support and health advice for LGBTI students.

The first time every Australian university had been examined in this way, the research was based on publicly available information available on official websites and social media pages.

Common facilities at the leading universities - which included Curtin, Queensland, La Trobe, Sydney and Wollongong - were staff and student ally networks, dedicated social spaces for LGBTI students and public celebrations of events such as International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Some of the more progressive initiatives were gender-neutral toilets, bursaries for LGBTI students and the vetting of internship programs to ensure employers were LGBTI friendly.

"It is clear that some Australian universities are going to significant lengths to include LGBTI people... and the fact that some universities are moving beyond tolerance to active engagement with LGBTI students is very pleasing," GLRL co-convenor Justin Koonin said.

When it came to equal opportunity policies only four out of 41 universities - including Sydney - had reference to intersex status despite this being part of the Sex Discrimination Act.

While not illegal to fail to spell out which people cannot be discriminated against, it is standard practice to state the law.

Nonetheless, at two universities - Adelaide and Notre Dame - researchers struggled to find any mention of LGBTI people in their polices at all, while a further 10 only made reference to sexuality.

"Federal laws protecting people with an intersex variation only passed in 2013 and it seems universities are taking a while to catch up," Koonin said.

"We need to be vigilant to ensure that all of us are protected, not just lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people.

"University can be a transitional time in people's lives, and it is incredibly important that they feel supported, whomever they are and however they identity."

In the UK, six universities passed a similar piece of research on LGB inclusion with flying colours.

By contrast, no Australian university met every metric due to no obvious sign of the number of LGBTI students being monitored, little specific career advice and a lack of sexual health information for gay and bisexual men despite them being a key group at risk.

Universities doing the least when it to came to promoting LGBTI inclusion included regional institutions - such as James Cook and Bond - and religious campuses including the Australian Catholic University and Divinity.

University of Divinity vice chancellor Peter Sherlock told the Star Observer that LGBTI students would be welcome and supported.

"We have a diverse student body, but our small size has meant that, to date, there has not been a discernible need to establish support networks for any specific group of students," he said.

Sherlock acknowledged Divinity's harassment policies, which failed to mention gender identity or intersex, were out of date: "I accept the statement could be more comprehensive and inclusive and it is presently under review."

However, when asked if the university had plans to put in place facilities for LGBTI students, Sherlock said no.

"Our consistent aim is to continue to improve our... services for each and every student, whoever they are and wherever they are headed," he said.
More information on the research, including interviews and comments with students and representatives from some of the leading and lagging universities, can be found in the See how your university fared at the Australian LGBTI University Guide website: lgbtiuniguide.org.au Star Observer's latest monthly magazine that is now available.

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New research reveals Australia's most LGBTI-friendly universities

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WITH O-Week imminent, new research has revealed only one in 10 Australian universities' equal opportunity policies fully reflect legally binding anti-discrimination legislation when it comes to protecting LGBTI students. The findings from the first-ever Australian LGBTI University Guide , which goes live online today, shines a spotlight on those universities that are leading the field when it comes to publicly promoting LGBTI inclusion, and those that are lagging behind.

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When Bijan Kardouni was 23, he went to the wedding of his secret lover.

Bijan had met Sami* through the underground LGBT community in Iran, using a VPN blocker to contact him on a banned site called ManJam.

A year later, Sami's family forced him to marry a woman.

Bijan was there to support him.

"[He] was my first love and he had to get married, and I was there helping him and torturing myself by being there," he says.

Bijan arrived in Australia 10 years later in 2017 as an international student, feeling "like Alice in Wonderland".

What words of wisdom would give yourself back when you were starting out at uni? Share with us at life@abc.net.au.

But without a White Rabbit to follow, it took him a while to adjust to a new country.

"When I was at Oxford Street the very first time I saw two policemen coming towards me. Those memories came back to me at that time. Like, 'Oh, what do they want to do? Do they want to arrest me because of being gay?'"

"Then I'd talk to myself [and said], 'This is Australia and you should feel safe. They don't want to attack you, they don't want to harm you. They are protecting you.'"

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'You guys don't realise how lucky you are'

Indonesian student Liz arrived in Australia in 2016, and she says her first experience at a lesbian party in Sydney was similarly overwhelming.

"You're in this group of people where everyone's been out for years. They know what they want to do, they know what they like and you're just sitting here [thinking I] can't even say 'I'm gay' without being terrified," she recalls.

Growing up in a small conservative town in Java, homosexuality wasn't talked about when Liz was growing up.

She first realised she was gay while watching Kate Winslet's nude portrait scene in Titanic.

Liz was in Australia for the same-sex marriage postal vote and attended one of the Yes marches.

Although she sympathised with the Australian LGBT community's concerns with the plebiscite, it was hard for her to avoid comparing their struggle to her own experiences of LGBT Indonesia.

"You guys don't [realise] how lucky you are. Obviously you're struggling, but this is nothing. The fact that you can march on the street, having a [pro-LGBT] sign, without being bashed? Wow."

Australia can still be a lonely place

For Indonesian student Hadi*, growing up as a queer person in Indonesia meant isolation and insecurity.

In primary school he confessed his love to a boy he had a crush on. By high school the rumours had spread, and half the class was avoiding him.

"I started questioning myself - what is wrong with me?"

After moving to Australia in 2017, Hadi started online dating.

His experiences as a "skinny Asian male" both on and offline caused him to distrust the Australian LGBT community.

"At first, I thought it was OK, I met a few decent people, but I encountered a few bad people. Just insults or body shaming. [They] tried to discriminate [against] you and get you down mentally," he says.

These encounters caused Hadi to isolate himself yet again, until he joined his local tennis club and found his crowd.

He found it beneficial "just being out there instead of staying at home being depressed and being anxious about everything".

Hadi is now openly gay to many of his friends here and "couldn't imagine" living in Indonesia again.

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Returning home is complicated and sometimes perilous

For Bijan, the prospect of returning to Iran became unbearable after his friend disappeared last year.

"[My friend] was studying in the UK. He wanted to visit his family [in Iran] and then some of his friends invited him to a gay party. The party was raided, he was arrested and we don't know what happened to him," he says.

"We tried to contact the family but we don't know [what happened]."

After this incident, Bijan decided to apply for a refugee visa in Australia.

If approved, he will never be able to return to Iran, which means he doesn't know when he'll see his friends or family again.

For Liz, returning to Indonesia will be worthwhile because she feels she can help the community she left behind.

She is hoping to work for the Indonesian Government so that she can effect social change for the LGBT community, who are seen as in need of "rehabilitation" by some parts of the community.

"It's definitely terrifying because that means I have to come back into the closet ... but I'm excited to actually start doing what I want to do," she says.

"At the end of the day I'm very privileged to be able to [come to Australia as an international student] and I don't want to take my privilege for granted. I want to use it."

'No longer questioning myself. This is me'

Living in Australia has changed the way these students see themselves.

"I used to think that if you're queer that means you're just different, but now I just feel like if you're queer, you're queer. [It] doesn't matter, you're still the same," Liz says.

For Bijan, living in Australia "has made me even happier to be gay because I can feel that when I'm myself then I don't have any issue with [who I am]".

Despite facing racism, he still feels a sense of belonging in the Australian LGBT community.

"I don't feel any sense of belonging to the Iranian community here. Because they have the same mindset. They have the same judgement towards me. So I don't feel welcome there and although it was hard for me to integrate into the [LGBT] community, I did it. And now I feel comfortable with it," Bijan says.

Hadi says moving to Australia has opened his eyes.

"I try to accept myself more than in the past. [I am] no longer questioning myself. This is me."
*Name has been changed.

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How being an LGBT international student in Australia changed me - ABC Life

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When Bijan Kardouni was 23, he went to the wedding of his secret lover. Bijan had met Sami* through the underground LGBT community in Iran, using a VPN blocker to contact him on a banned site called ManJam. A year later, Sami's family forced him to marry a woman.

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Our LGBTQIA+ community

Melbourne School of Engineering is a diverse organisation, welcoming people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, allies, and more (LGBTQIA+).

These individuals may be exposed to unsolicited discrimination at work, university and in their personal lives. The School is working towards improving the experience of its LGBTQIA+ staff and students through the activities listed below.

The University has joined Pride in Diversity and contributes to the Australian Workplace Equality Index.

Establishing anti-bullying policies to protect

LGBTIQA+ community members often find themselves in a vulnerable and uncomfortable position in school and the workplace. At MSE, LGBTQIA+ individuals are protected under our Anti-bullying Policy.

MSE also aims to develop specific HR policies that provide the structure, framework, and support for its LGBTIQA+ students and staff. We are also in the process of further exploring successful strategies that have been developed by other organisations in order to provide further support for LGBTIQA+ individuals at the School.

Pride in action network

The Pride in Action Network is the University of Melbourne's inaugural LGBTQIA+ ally network. The Network has been established to work with network members and leadership to build and promote visibility of an inclusive and culture where diversity is affirmed and celebrated - from the inside out.
The network connects staff and students who identify as LGBTIQA+, allies and supporters of the community, creating opportunities to share resources and foster an inclusive and supportive workplace and learning environment. The Network is made up of members who are willing to stand up and out against homophobia, transphobia, and intersexism, and who want the University to be a place where identities are affirmed rather than simply accepted. Find out more and sign up

Support Melbourne School of Engineering
Make a Gift

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Melbourne School of Engineering is a diverse organisation, welcoming people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, allies, and more (LGBTQIA+). These individuals may be exposed to unsolicited discrimination at work, university and in their personal lives. The School is working towards improving the experience of its LGBTQIA+ staff and students through the activities listed below.

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The first ever guide assessing all Australian universities on their inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students has been launched.

The University of Sydney.

The Australian LGBTI University Guide, a free, online publication, provides information about Australian universities on their efforts to include LGBTI students.

The guide was jointly produced by the Star Observer and the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, with support from advocacy bodies Out For Australia, Transgender Victoria and Organisation Intersex International Australia.

Speaking at the Monday night launch, NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby Convenor Justin Koonin named some of Australia's best universities for LGBTI inclusion.

Universities including Curtin, La Trobe, Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Sunshine Coast, Swinbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Western Australia and Wollongong are all "going to considerable lengths to include LGBTI students", said Koonin.

Each university was judged against a set of 15 criteria, based on information from the university that was publicly available. On the website, students can look up each university and see how they fare via a checklist system.

Criteria included whether the university had anti-discrimination policies, mandatory training for staff, resources, welfare and health support, and societies and events that catered specifically for LGBTI students.

The guide was launched by Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who spoke about the liberating experience of attending university as a young gay man.

Lane Sainty / BuzzFeed News

Australian Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson speaks at the guide launch on Monday evening.

"After going through the trials and social pressure of high school, university is often the first opportunity to breathe your first breath as your true self," Wilson said.

"After struggling through high school and the torment of self repression, I was elated to be validated by getting into university. But it was a much more important experience than just education," he said.

"After years of suppression about who I was from my friends and my family, it was an opportunity for the first time in my life to be who I was, not who others wanted me to be, which was so liberating."

Although the guide was hailed as a "good start", Justin Koonin said it shows that inclusion of transgender and intersex students lags behind that of lesbian, gay and bisexual students.

"If you want to include trans and intersex people, you can't just stick a T and an I on the end of all your documents," he said.

"You actually have to do something different, because the needs of intersex, trans and gender diverse people are not the same as lesbian, gay and bisexual people."

The guide found that university bureaucracy often makes life difficult for transgender, gender diverse and intersex students. Not all universities allow students to change their gender on forms or officially state their gender as non-binary.

Other shortfalls were highlighted by the guide, including a lack of relevant sexual health information and career advice for LGBTI students.

It found that university services often grouped lesbian, gay and bisexual students together, providing little specific information for bisexual students in particular.

Two thirds of universities did not have mandatory training for staff in regards to equal opportunities for LGBTI students, and only one in five institutions had anti-discrimination policies that reflected current legal protections.

However, headway is being made in some areas. Over half of all universities have a staff ally network, and approximately three quarters have a student society inclusive of LGBTI people.

Jen Chen, a 20-year-old student and Queer Officer at the University of New South Wales, said the guide would offer much needed support to young people who were still in the closet.

"When I started university, I had to do my own research, and there was very little information available online," she said. "The shift to university is often very intimidating and you don't know what to expect."

Chen spoke about the fear and apprehension of approaching UNSW's queer society stall during O-Week.

"The stall was on the main walkway, and I was petrified I would be seen by a family friend and subsequently outed to my family. Every time I attempted to walk up to the stall, I would automatically veer off to a neighboring stall," she said.

"Eventually, I mustered the courage, walked up and introduced myself. If I hadn't taken that step, I would have had a very different university experience."

"For many people, this university guide will make them feel more comfortable to pursue studies at university. It will allow people to easily and without hassle find support networks on campus."

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There Is Now An Australian University Guide For LGBTI Students

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The University of Sydney. The guide was jointly produced by the Star Observer and the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, with support from advocacy bodies Out For Australia, Transgender Victoria and Organisation Intersex International Australia. Speaking at the Monday night launch, NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby Convenor Justin Koonin named some of Australia's best universities for LGBTI inclusion.

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This is an opinion column by Lisa Basil, who is attending class remotely at the University of British Columbia from her home in Lethbridge, Alta. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
If September is any indication, the global pandemic has all but eradicated any semblance of the "university experience" as we know it.

Gone are the days of frat parties, sporting events and 300-person lecture halls. The loss of the university experience means the absence of direct access to professors via office hours, campus resources, library access and clubs.

But one of the lesser-known casualties of this shift to remote learning is also one of the most fundamental aspects of university life: the on-campus community.

For LGBTQ students like myself, the on-campus experience is an indispensable opportunity.

While Canada loves to boast about and project an image of tolerance, many areas still remain problematic for queer youth. These are communities where anti-LGBTQ vandalism, banning of pride flags or hate crimes still occur.

Going away to college is a chance for some to finally escape the stifling realities of communities that are less diverse, more socially conservative or just outright homophobic.

Now, capped campus residence capacities have forced LGBTQ students all across the country to return to their (often) less-than-progressive hometowns, and those entering first year to be robbed of their long-awaited escape from them.

As I return home to finish my studies this year, I am returning to a community where Pride installations were vandalized at least twice. I am returning to a community where the provincial government is trying to undermine gay-straight alliance clubs in high schools, and I am returning to a community in which I get near-constant attention in the form of stares and glares when out with my girlfriend.

On campus, my queer existence isn't politicised. College was also an integral opportunity to find solace and companionship in LGBTQ and allied groups.

In that sense, remote learning means that we are losing an irreplaceable component of the queer university experience.

The 2015 GLSEN National School Climate survey of U.S. schools found that school-based resources were an essential factor for LGBTQ students' feelings of inclusivity. Another 2015 survey of LGBTQ students at Ontario universities found that 84 per cent of respondents wished there were morestaff to run LGBTQ groups, events and spaces.

Working with incoming LGBTQ university students and reflecting on my experience, I can attest that for many students, university is their first opportunity to truly be out. It is frequently the first time queer students are able to be part of specifically LGBTQ spaces.

Finding myself among a community of peers where being gay was the least-interesting thing about me was one of my most central and defining college experiences. Participation in queer-specific campus clubs, events and even an LGBTQ residence hall were paramount to my journey to distancing myself from years of internalized homophobia.

Some may argue that the establishment of safe spaces creates a generation of LGBTQ students ill-equipped for the "real world." But a queer-friendly campus experience is an education in a different sense - one of self-acceptance and community.

LGBTQ students across the country, for the time being, must mourn not only the loss of campus resources but the loss of an integral campus life that makes their university years a cornerstone of personal growth.

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OPINION | Why the death of the college and university experience is so detrimental for LGBTQ students | CBC News

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This is an opinion column by Lisa Basil, who is attending class remotely at the University of British Columbia from her home in Lethbridge, Alta. For more information about CBC's Opinion section , please see the FAQ . If September is any indication, the global pandemic has all but eradicated any semblance of the "university experience" as we know it.

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Higher Education Today (Nonviolence and Gay Students) (Feat. Arun Gandhi & Winnie Stachelberg)

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Higher Education Today (Nonviolence and Gay Students) (Feat. Arun Gandhi & Winnie Stachelberg)

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A hundred male students wore skirts to school | The Queer Catch-Up

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Supporting Transgender Students Workshop with Jayson Bijak

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The Prom | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix

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Is this a mood? No. But it feels like one rn 

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Is this a mood? No. But it feels like one rn 

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Why this is important to us

We're proud to be one of the country's most diverse cities.

Sydney has long been a beacon of acceptance for people from Australia and all around the world. Some visit for a while and others stay for good. People from different walks of life come here to work, live and play and we're committed to encouraging the diverse communities in our city.

We endeavour to make the physical components of the city accessible and provide social and economic opportunities for people with disability to enable full participation in city life.

Our people and community

We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation as the traditional custodians of this place we now call Sydney. We recognise that, by acknowledging our shared past, we are laying the groundwork for our future which embraces all Australians, based on mutual respect and shared responsibility for our land.

Multicultural communities help develop our policies and promote cultural awareness through festivals and other events during the year.

All members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) communities who live, work or play in the city

A variety of services and information for residents, workers and visitors with disability are provided.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations and language groups make up the land we call Australia. Each nation speaks a different language with its own distinct dialect and cultural beliefs.

In 2008, we appointed our first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel made of community and industry professionals, youth and Elders. The panel provides advice on matters of importance to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Multicultural services

We have many different multicultural programs and services.

Research identifies emerging community needs and informs our policy development. We also promote cultural awareness through festivals and events such as Living in Harmony.

Our libraries also hold titles for loan in several different languages.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer services

We applauded the passing of the marriage equality bill on 7 December 2017.

In October 2016, we resolved to reaffirm our support for marriage equality for all Australians, oppose the federal government's proposed plebiscite on same-sex marriage and help the work of marriage equality campaigners.

Prior to the launch of the NSW relationships register in 2010, we facilitated a relationships declaration program.

Our dedicated LGBTIQ project coordinator helps members of the community with City of Sydney matters and is consulted during policy development.

We also work with a range of external organisations, such as the state government and not-for-profit organisations, to bring services to the LGBTIQ communities. We work closely with ACON and the NSW Police Force.

Sponsorship grants are available for LGBTIQ organisations.

People with disability

One of our major goals is to be as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Our Inclusion (Disability) Advisory Panel was established to provide further advice about improving inclusion for people with disability.

We support organisations that provide services to people with disability, older adults and their carers operating in our area.

Sector support and development activities include:

providing regular information to local organisations with updates from the disability sector, training opportunities, and information about relevant local programs and services

interagency meetings

the opportunity to promote inclusive activities, events and programs for people with disability, on a dedicated disability-inclusive events page on the What's On website.

We convene the City and Eastern Sydney Ageing and Disability Interagency with Waverley Council and Randwick Council. Meetings are held every 2nd month from February to October.

The interagency provides a forum for organisations to collaborate, exchange information, ideas and new innovative service approaches that are responsive to the needs of the community. This meeting is a great opportunity for organisations to learn more information about changes and reforms in the ageing and disability services sector and to network with other providers.

Welcoming asylum seekers and refugees

Our city is a culturally diverse area that has become home to refugees and asylum seekers from around the world.

The United Nations describes refugees as people who are outside their country of nationality and have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group or political opinion.

An asylum seeker is a person who has sought protection as a refugee, but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been assessed. Asylum seekers in Australia have no guaranteed right to income, health care or settlement services while they wait for their claim to be determined.

We have been an official refugee welcome zone since 2005, when Council declared its commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers into our community. This was also a commitment to upholding human rights, demonstrating compassion and enhancing cultural and religious diversity in our community.

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Diversity and inclusion - City of Sydney

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We're proud to be one of the country's most diverse cities. Sydney has long been a beacon of acceptance for people from Australia and all around the world. Some visit for a while and others stay for good. People from different walks of life come here to work, live and play and we're committed to encouraging the diverse communities in our city.

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It's the queening of Australia. At least on television, queer is the new black. Because gay men are assumed to possess wit, energy and fashion sense, they've become the ideal additive to draw new audiences to old ideas.

Without Waz and Gav, The Block would have been just another renovation show. But it rode to glory on "The Boys"' y-fronts, becoming Australia's most watched series of the year.

Last week Ten launched a personal renovation show from America called Queer Eye For the Straight Guy. Five stylists, adopting camp mannerisms, flounced around what Australians would call a Big Dag and transformed him, via a series of product placements, into a figure of casual elegance.

It drew 1.3 million viewers in the mainland capitals, which was extraordinary for two reasons: it was up against Nine's blockbuster Who Wants To Be A Millionaire; and, per population, it did vastly better here than in America.

In the US, Queer Eye is shown on the pay TV network Bravo and, with 3.3 million viewers a week, is the station's most watched program.

Its success led Bravo to introduce Boy Meets Boy, a gay version of The Bachelor, in which a gay man chooses one of 15 contestants to join him on a New Zealand holiday. What he doesn't know is that some contestants are straight and if he chooses one of them, some of his prize money goes to the straight trickster.

Because we follow such American trends, there's bound to be an Australian edition of Boy Meets Boy soon after the local version of Queer Eye (for which Ten is seeking style gurus).

Why has camp become cool? David Castran, managing director of the research agency Audience Development Australia, says Australia has been "gay-friendly" right back to the 1970s, when Joe Hasham played the world's first sympathetic gay soap opera character in Number 96. Since then we've watched the Mardi Gras regularly, and enjoyed gay storylines in the hit series The Secret Life of Us.

But this year's fad is not so much an outbreak of homophilia as a desperate search for surprise.

"There's a shortage of interesting young males on Australian television right now, and the guys in Queer Eye fill that gap," says Mr Castran. "People under 40 are telling us they find television dreary and predictable. The only young male with a bit of spark is Rove McManus.

"So these guys come along and they can be more bitchy, more direct, more lively, and more exciting than everyone else. It might be stereotyped behaviour, but women viewers like them and male viewers find them funny.

"It's not about being gay-branded. They succeed because they're entertaining - and TV certainly needs that at the moment."

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Cool to be camp: local TV follows the queer leaders

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It's the queening of Australia. At least on television, queer is the new black. Because gay men are assumed to possess wit, energy and fashion sense, they've become the ideal additive to draw new audiences to old ideas. Without Waz and Gav, The Block would have been just another renovation show.

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Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasmanian Greens ticket, joining with sitting Greens Western Australia senator Dee Margetts to form the first group of Australian Greens senators following the 1996 federal election. He was re-elected in 2001 and in 2007. He was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party.

While serving in the Tasmanian parliament, Brown successfully campaigned for a large increase in the protected wilderness areas. Brown led the Australian Greens from the party's foundation in 1992 until April 2012, a period in which polls grew to around 10% at state and federal levels (13.9% of the primary vote in 2010). From 2002 to 2004, when minor parties held the balance of power in the Senate, Brown became a well-recognised politician. In October 2003 Brown was the subject of international media interest when he was suspended from the parliament for interjecting during an address by United States president George W. Bush.

On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and indicated his intention to resign from the Senate in June. This occurred on 15 June 2012.

Brown was born in Oberon, New South Wales, one of twins, and attended Trunkey Public School, Coffs Harbour High School (1957-60) and Blacktown Boys High School. In his senior year, he was elected school captain.

After finishing high school, Brown enrolled in medicine at University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree.

Brown practised medicine for a time at the Royal Canberra Hospital. During his tenure at the hospital, he and other senior medical staff took a pacifist stance by refusing to certify young men who did not wish to fight in the Vietnam War as fit to be conscripted. He then worked as a resident at Darwin and Alice Springs hospitals. At the latter post, he met John Hawkins, a surgeon who had kayaked rivers in Tasmania.

Brown travelled to London in 1970 and worked at Hounslow Cottage Hospital and St Mary Abbot's Hospital in South Kensington. He was the resident doctor on duty at St Mary Abbot's Hospital when the body of Jimi Hendrix was brought in.

At the time of his retirement, many media outlets erroneously reported that he had pronounced Hendrix dead. Brown later clarified that, while he had been on duty when Hendrix was brought in, "he had been dead for some hours", and Hendrix was officially pronounced dead by a different doctor-who was, coincidentally, also an Australian.

Brown moved to Tasmania in 1972 and worked as a general practitioner in Launceston. He soon became involved in the state's environmental movement, in particular the campaign to save Lake Pedder. By 1972, he was a member of the newly formed United Tasmania Group, Australia's first "green" party.

In 1976, he fasted for a week on top of Mt Wellington in protest against the arrival at Hobart of the nuclear-powered warship USS Enterprise.

In 1978 Brown was appointed director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. In the late 1970s he emerged as a leader of the campaign to prevent construction of the Franklin Dam, which would have flooded the Franklin River valley as part of a hydroelectricity project. Brown was among the 1500 people arrested while protesting during the campaign. He subsequently spent 19 days in Hobart's Risdon Prison. On the day of his release in 1983, he became a member of Tasmania's parliament for the House of Assembly seat of Denison after the Democrats MP Norm Sanders resigned to successfully stand for the Australian Senate; Brown was elected to replace him on a countback. The Franklin campaign was a success after Federal government intervention protected the Franklin River in 1983.

During his first term of office, Brown introduced a wide range of private member's initiatives, which include freedom of information, death with dignity, lowering parliamentary salaries, gay law reform, banning the battery-hen industry and advocation for nuclear free Tasmania. His 1987 bill to ban semi-automatic guns was voted down by both Liberal and Labor members of Tasmania's House of Assembly, nine years before the Port Arthur massacre resulted in a successful federal Liberal bid to achieve the same results.

In 1989 Tasmania's system of proportional representation allowed the Greens to win five out of 35 seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Brown became their leader. He agreed to support a minority Labor Party government, on the basis of a negotiated Accord (signed by Michael Field and Bob Brown) in which the Green independents agreed to support the budget but not motions of no confidence, and the ALP agreed to develop a more open parliamentary process, to consult on departmental appointments, provide a legislative research service, parity in parliamentary staffing and a reform agenda which included equal opportunities, freedom of information, national parks protection and public disclosure of bulk power contracts and royalties from mining companies. This agreement, however, broke down over forestry issues in 1992. In 1993 Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal House of Representatives.

Brown was elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, and was an outspoken voice in opposition to the conservative government of John Howard, and in support of green and human rights issues, including international issues such as Tibet, East Timor and West Papua. He also introduced bills for constitutional reform, forest protection, to block radioactive waste dumping, to ban mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, to prohibit the use of cluster munitions and for greenhouse abatement.

At the 2001 federal election Brown was re-elected to the Senate with a greatly increased vote, and was outspoken on Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to allow 438 asylum seekers (mostly from Afghanistan) to land on Christmas Island after they had been rescued from their sinking boat in the Indian Ocean by the MV Tampa, a Norwegian freighter. Brown was equally critical of Opposition Leader Kim Beazley's acquiescence to John Howard's stance on the Tampa incident.

Brown was particularly vocal in his opposition to Australian participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and became recognised as a leading voice for the anti-war/peace movement. When President Bush visited Canberra on 23 October 2003, Brown and fellow senator Kerry Nettle interjected during his address to a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament. During Bush's speech Brown and Nettle wore signs referring to David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, two Australian citizens held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, at that time (Habib was later released without charge and Hicks served a prison term for providing material support for terrorism), following their apprehension by United States forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Bush accepted the interjections with good humour but the Speaker of the House, Neil Andrew formally "named" Brown and Nettle. This meant that they were both suspended from the Parliament for 24 hours which prevented them from being present during a similar address from Chinese President Hu Jintao the next day. After the speech, however, Brown shook Bush's hand.

Brown opposed the Howard Government's amendments to the Marriage Act in 2004, stating that "Mr Howard should relax and accept gay marriages as part of the future's social fabric".

In December 2004, forestry and export woodchip company Gunns Limited attempted to sue Brown and others for $6.3 million, in an action which media reports say related to "ongoing damaging campaigns and activities" against the company. The original Statement of Claim issued by Gunns was struck out by the Supreme Court and costs were awarded against Gunns for the initial proceedings. Gunns ultimately failed with the company finally dropping all claims against Brown on 13 December 2006 while continuing its case against others including The Wilderness Society.

Brown was formally elected as the first Federal Parliamentary Leader of The Greens on 28 November 2005, following almost a decade of service as de facto leader since his election to the Senate in 1996.

In February 2007, the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government responded by changing the text of the State's Regional Forest Agreement. New clauses make it clear that the word 'protection' relates only to whether the two respective governments deem a species to be protected rather than the meaning of the word being based on actual evidence of such.

In early 2007, Brown attracted scorn from sections of the media and the major political parties for his proposal to commit to a plan within three years, that would eventually see the banning of coal exports. Brown described coal exports as the "energy industry's heroin habit" and stated that the export of alternative technologies should be the priority.

Brown was re-elected in the 2007 federal election. He announced his intention to stand again at the Greens National Conference in November 2005.

Following his re-election and that of the new Labor Government, Brown called on the new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to set fixed carbon targets immediately, and to announce their levels at the upcoming United Nations Bali Climate Change Conference in December 2007, continuing his climate campaigning, and saying that it was "obvious" what the outcome would be if Australia was to not set carbon emissions goals.

In 2005, Brown brought a legal case against Forestry Tasmania in the Federal Court, in an attempt to protect Tasmania's Wielangta forest from clearfell logging. The 1997 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) exempted logging operations from endangered species laws but required the protection of endangered species. Bob Brown brought a case against Forestry Tasmania citing threats to endangered species like the Swift parrot and Wielangta Stag Beetle. In December 2006, Judge Shane Marshall awarded the case in Brown's favour. On appeal to the full bench of the Federal Court level, the case was lost, without rejecting the earlier judgement that logging would further endanger these species. In May 2008 the High Court denied leave to appeal that decision after the wording of the RFA was changed.

Brown was ordered to pay $240,000 to Forestry Tasmania, which he said he could not afford to pay. Failure to pay would have resulted in bankruptcy proceedings which would have cost Brown his Senate seat. Brown had earlier rejected a settlement offer from Forestry Tasmania that would have required him to have only paid $200,000 of the costs he had incurred. On 9 June 2009, Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith promised to help bail him out if necessary, an offer that was not needed after pledges of support from over 1,000 donors covered Brown's legal bill within a few days of his announcement.

In 2011, after the 2010-11 Queensland floods Brown drew criticism for suggesting that half the Mineral Resource Rent Tax be allocated to future natural catastrophes. He made comments to the effect that climate change, specifically the impact on climate from the mining sector should be held at least partially responsible for the flooding.

On 24 March 2012, at the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tasmanian Greens, Brown warned about degradation of the Earth and the impact that could have on future generations. He postulated that other civilisations in the universe are:

not communicating with Earth. They have extincted themselves. They have come and gone. And now it's our turn.

As a possible approach to pre-empting this he proposed a Global Parliament. He was met with a standing ovation. The then deputy leader Christine Milne said it was "a very inspiring speech". There was criticism of his approach. At the Global Greens Conference in Dakar, Senegal Africa, 1 April 2012, Bob Brown advocated that there be established a "global parliament" where "every citizen should have an equal say". The final resolution supported by the Australian Greens and others, was passed.

Resigns as Greens leader

On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in June when his replacement was available. His deputy, Christine Milne, became Greens leader, and federal Melbourne MP Adam Bandt became Greens deputy leader. Peter Whish-Wilson, who had formerly stood for the Greens, was selected as Brown's replacement in the Senate.

Brown's resignation took place on 15 June 2012 at 3:30 pm, when he handed his resignation to the senate president, John Hogg. Peter Whish-Wilson was sworn into the Senate on 21 June.

Brown set up the Bob Brown Foundation with his longtime partner Paul Thomas to promote environmental awareness. Since its establishment, the Bob Brown Foundation has given out national awards to many Australian environmentalists including Miranda Gibson, Charlie Wood, Isaac Astill, and Drew Hutton.

Brown is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.

Brown was a speaker at the Save the Kimberley concert, held on 5 October 2012. Held at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, the concert was part of a long-running campaign to protest against a proposal to industrialise the James Price Point area in Broome, Western Australia, Australia. Brown had also addressed a rally on 2 September 2012 in Sydney, Australia. Brown appeared at another concert in support of the Kimberley cause on 24 February 2013, with musicians Missy Higgins and John Butler also appearing, with the event held at The Esplanade in Fremantle, Western Australia. Jarrah Records, the record label that Butler co-founded with musical trio The Waifs and band manager Phil Stevens, worked in partnership with The Wilderness Society to stage the free event that also featured the band Ball Park Music.[citation needed ] A march to protest the proposed gas refinery construction at James Price Point accompanied the free concert and campaign supporters were photographed with banners and placards.

On 8 January 2013, it was announced that Brown would be taking over as director of the Australian chapter of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a non-profit, marine conservation organisation. He stepped down in April 2014.

In January 2016, Brown was arrested after refusing to leave the Lapoinya Forest in Tasmania, where preparations for logging were under way. Along with another protester, who had been arrested a few days earlier, he was charged with an offence under Tasmania's Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014. Although the charges were dropped, the two went to the High Court to argue that the provisions under which they had been charged were unconstitutional. In October 2017 the High Court agreed, by a majority although for differing reasons, that the provisions were invalid in that they breached the constitutional freedom of political communication.

In August 2016, Brown joined the crew of Sea Shepherd on board their ship Steve Irwin, as it joined the campaign against proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

Opposition to a Queensland coal mine

In April 2019 Brown led a convoy of vehicles to protest against a proposed coal mine.

Opposition to a Tasmanian wind farm

In July 2019 Brown came out strongly opposing a large wind farm to be set up in Northern Tasmania, raising concern for bird species.

In a newspaper interview in 1976, Brown announced that he had a same-sex partner to highlight discrimination and encourage law reform because homosexual activity in Tasmania remained a crime until 1997.

Brown currently lives in Eggs and Bacon Bay, Tasmania with his long-time partner, Paul Thomas, a farmer and activist whom he met in 1996.

Brown was the founder, in 1990, of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, now Bush Heritage Australia, a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to purchasing and preserving Australian bushland. He was President of the organisation until 1996. On 20 March 2011 Brown donated a 14-hectare (35-acre) property and house he had owned for 38 years to Bush Heritage Australia. The property is located 47 kilometres (29 miles) south-west of Launceston, Tasmania, in the Liffey Valley. According to Australian Geographic, it is a site of historic and symbolic significance.

Brown describes himself as a "lapsed Presbyterian".

In an interview with Richard Fidler on ABC radio, Nigel Brennan, an Australian photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia and held hostage for 462 days, revealed Brown had contributed $100,000 of his own money to help pay the ransom for his release. It was also revealed that Brown contacted Australian businessman Dick Smith asking that he also contribute funds towards the release of Brennan Brennan, who was released in November 2009, also stated in this interview that Brown had to borrow this money, an assertion also made in various media outlets at the time of Brennan's release. In the same interview, Brennan notes that in contrast to Brown's compassion, the Australian government seemed unconcerned with his welfare, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dismissed his mother's anxiety at having her son released.

In July 2012, Bob Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Coffs Harbour High School, where he had spent a significant part of his secondary school years.

Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers (1983), Lake Pedder (1986), Tarkine Trails (1994), The Greens (1996) (with Peter Singer), Memo for a Saner World (2004), Valley of the Giants (2004), Tasmania's Recherche Bay (2005), Earth (2009), In Balfour Street (2010) and Optimism: reflections on a life of action (2014). He has collaborated with, or supported work of Geoff Law. In 2004 James Norman published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary.

Brown has received the following awards:

^ In 1989, the Greens did not have formal leadership positions, but Brown's official senate biography lists his leadership of the state party from 1989-1993 as his first parliamentary party position.

Armstrong, Lance J.E. (1997). Good God, He's Green! A History of Tasmanian Politics 1989-1996. Wahroonga, N.S.W., Pacific Law Press. ISBN 1-875192-08-5

Lines, William J. (2006) Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7022-3554-7

Thompson, Peter (1984). Bob Brown of the Franklin River. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-86861-596-X.

"Biography for BROWN, Robert (Bob) James". Parliament of Australia. 28 June 2011.

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Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasmanian Greens ticket, joining with sitting Greens Western Australia senator Dee Margetts to form the first group of Australian Greens senators following the 1996 federal election.

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This year's Reconciliation Week theme is 'Don't Keep History a Mystery', which got us thinking about what we know of queer Indigenous history.

Well, it turns out we don't really know that much.

Troy-Anthony Baylis of the Jawoyn Nation is an Adelaide-based artist and is completing his PhD about sexual and gender diversity of Australian Aboriginal peoples and artistic expression, and told The Hook Up that in terms of specific queer sexuality, we actually don't know anything.

"Some of us will hear stories from some of our relatives about what some people might have got up to on the sly, so to speak, but there's not a lot of evidence that there were formal structures and formal roles within Aboriginal communities really anywhere in Australia except for in the Tiwi Islands," Troy-Anthony told The Hook Up.

"(In) the Tiwi Islands, there's actual language to name sexual and gender diversity and there is evidence that their were roles that were quite set out, but on the mainland not much at all."

In the last few years, the Tiwi Island Sistagirls have become quite famous, last year attending the Sydney Mardi Gras for the first time.

However, the Sistagirls have not always been accepted by their community and sexuality has been quite repressed in Australian Indigenous culture since colonisation.

"Colonisation, in a sense, silenced that kind of expression and behaviours," said Troy-Anthony.

Troy-Anthony also told The Hook Up that Aboriginal people suppressed or hid their sexuality as a survival mechanism after Christianisation and colonisation.

Queer history in Dreamtime stories?

It turns out the Mimi spirits (pictured above) may offer some hope of queer Indigenous history in Dreamtime stories.

"Mimi spirits, depending on which community you're talking about, [are] genderless," Troy-Anthony says.

"The Mimi spirits are tricky and naughty, which does potentially lead us to the idea of sexuality and the performance of sexuality being something naughty and edgy and risqué"

But while there are some parallels, Troy-Anthony tells us there isn't any formal evidence that any of the dreaming stories are particularly about sexuality.

What it means to young, queer Indigenous Australians

Rowdie Walden is a Gamilaroi man and presenter and told The Hook Up that learning more about Indigenous queer history has motivated him to make more queer history.

"If there's nothing there, and there's nothing holding us back, or there's no reason to say that it did or didn't exist, why not go forward now and make that modern queer Indigenous history or queer culture?" he said.

Mental health advocate and Wiradjuri man Jake Gablonski agreed:

"It's important to acknowledge that LGBTI Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders remain absent from Indigenous history so it's definitely motivated me to go and create that as well."

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What do we know about queer Indigenous history? - triple j

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From Mimi spirits in the Dreamtime to the Tiwi Island Sistagirls, we explore what we know about queer Indigenous history.

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Part 1 | Sydney University celebrates LGBTIQ students and staff for Mardi Gras

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Jacky Randa speaks about the University of Sydney at Mardi Gras

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Mood: openness of the heart (TheoryU) for LGBTQIA+ experiences

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Mood: openness of the heart (TheoryU) for LGBTQIA+ experiences

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News report: most inclusive Aus unis for queer students 

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News report: most inclusive Aus unis for queer students 

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If you don't identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, pansexual, queer or questioning, the chances are you almost certainly know someone who does - it might be a friend, a cousin, a niece, an uncle or a colleague. And you might even consider yourself an "ally" to the LGBTQ community - someone who speaks out if they witness discrimination or derogatory remarks.

In the UK, we have made great legal strides towards equality, but culturally we are still playing catch up - and higher education is just one of the places where LGBTQ people are being failed.

To put it bluntly, UK universities are still difficult places for people who aren't heterosexual or cisgender - where a person's gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth. And LGBTQ students continue to experience extremely high levels of discrimination. All of which can be significantly damaging.

Research has shown how both interpersonal and institutional discrimination (as well as fears of discrimination) can cause people to stay "in the closet" - because of worries about negative responses to their sexual orientation or gender identity. This causes chronically high levels of stress, known as " minority stress " - which is essentially stress experienced by stigmatised minority groups.

It has been shown that minority stress contributes to higher levels of mental and physical health problems within the LGBTQ community.

Higher than average numbers of LGBTQ students are also estranged from their families - with all the financial and emotional support implications that come with this.

This combination of factors probably goes some way in explaining why LGBTQ students are much more likely to drop out of university than their heterosexual or cisgendered peers.

Unsafe on campus?

Our research also suggests that the university teaching and learning environment is seen as one of the least safe places to be "out" at university, even more so than halls of residence or sports clubs, which have traditional been seen as most problematic.

We found that although staff members are not necessary homo, bi or transphobic in attitude, they do not have the confidence to explore and challenge discriminatory comments or attitudes in the classroom.

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This can leave many lecturers feeling they might "get it wrong" - and so they do nothing. The students we spoke to expressed disappointment in this, noting that the failure to call out these kinds of situations amounted to complicity in this type of discrimination.

The right support

There are of course many things that a university can do to support LGBTQ students who are experiencing difficulties at university. This can include counselling services that are LGBTQ friendly, chaplaincy services where chaplains are able to work with LGBTQ students of faith, as well as careers services that acknowledge the concerns students may have about being "out" at work and welfare tutors specifically trained to support these students.

But while this support is all well and good, for real change to happen, there needs to be increased "visibility" rather than "erasure" of LGBTQ identities in the higher education environment. This includes visibility within the curriculum, as well as outside of it.

This is important, because erasure isn't always malicious in intent. It could be something as seemingly simple as only using binary gender categories, or assuming that a student has or wants a partner - along with what gender that partner might be.

Full inclusion

Creating a more inclusive environment on campus and in higher education can come from many different places - both from staff who identify as LGBTQ and are prepared to be "out" in the lecture halls or laboratories. Along with those cisgender or straight "allies" who might "call out" a derogatory or dismissive comment from a colleague or student.

Inclusivity can also come from the student population, where strong student societies or LGBTQ officers can be a powerful influence on the culture of an organisation.

This is why, as part of our research, we have developed a specific model to help make teaching and learning environments more inclusive at universities. The model covers three domains - "inclusive language", "positive role models" and "diverse curriculum content".

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Of course, inclusivity will look different in different disciplines. For instance computer science may be able to do "role models" effectively - thanks in part to Alan Turing - but history may be better placed to work on inclusive "curriculum content". This could be done by challenging the social construction of texts or artworks. Vocational subjects on the other hand - such as medicine, nursing or social work - could use the model to prioritise their students' understanding of "inclusive language" as this will help them to build trust and rapport with future clients or patients.

As part of the project, we are also working with other universities in the sector to create a development programme for higher and further education institutions who are keen to explore and critique their cultures. The programme will allow institutions to identify and share ways to create a more inclusive and diverse learning environment for students. And it will, of course, also help to ensure opportunities to make LGBTQ identities and voices more visible in higher education are not missed.

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Why LGBTQ inclusivity still matters in higher education

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If you don't identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, pansexual, queer or questioning, the chances are you almost certainly know someone who does - it might be a friend, a cousin, a niece, an uncle or a colleague.

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Ally Network Launch - University of Sydney

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If USYD Students were PM -- asked student queer perspectives

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If USYD Students were PM -- asked student queer perspectives

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If Sydney Uni students were Prime Minister...

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Students' Representative Council, University of Sydney

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Jazzlyn Breen and Ray Prout Hello semester 2, the queer action collective would just like to reiterate to all conservatives reading this that we are still angry communists intent on destroying all that is good. Over the break members of our collective attended 3 separate conferences; the National Education conference in Adelaide, Students of Sustainability [...]

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Jazzlyn Breen and Ray Prout Hello semester 2, the queer action collective would just like to reiterate to all conservatives reading this that we are still angry communists intent on destroying all that is good. Over the break members of our collective attended 3 separate conferences; the National Education conference in Adelaide, Students of Sustainability [...]

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Penny Wong: woman, queer, POC, and a LEADER

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Penny Wong: woman, queer, POC, and a LEADER

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Hey ranters! Admins here.

We have noticed an increase in rants relating to mental health issues. We have decided to halt on posting rants that would require a trigger warning and/or are graphic in nature.

If you are struggling with University - time management, stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, sexual health or psychological support, drugs and alcohol, please do seek support as soon as possible.

We have compiled a list of services that can be utilised. Please note that a lot more exist than the ones listed. If you know one that isn't listed below, please comment and I'll edit the post to include it. This post will stay pinned on this page.

- USYD Mental Wellbeing Support Line; Phone 1300 474 065, Text 0488 884 429 for SMS chat. Available 24/7, including University close-down periods and bank holidays.

- Mental Health assistance, call the Mental Health Access Line 1800 011 511.

- Lifeline 13 11 14 (online chat or video also available 7pm - midnight)

- Suicide callback service 1300 659 467 (online chat or video also available 24 hours)

- NSW Rape Crisis Service 1800 424 017

- Kids Helpline (Counselling for Youths 5-25yo): 1800 55 1800

- Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling: 1800 737 732 / 1800RESPECT

- eHeadspace Online Mental Health Service: https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/

- USYD Psychology clinic provides psychological assessment, therapy and psychometric assessments at low cost: https://www.sydney.edu.au/.../patient-.../psychology-clinic.html

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Hey ranters! Admins here. We have noticed an increase in rants relating to mental health issues. We have decided to halt on posting rants that would require a trigger warning and/or are graphic in nature. If you are struggling with University - time management, stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, sexual health or psychological support, drugs and alcohol, please do seek support as soon as possible.

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Radical Education week will share the radical knowledge that has been created, mobilised and sustained inside and outside of academic institutions, by collectiv... es, community activists, and many others.

If you think a radically different, emancipatory model of education is possible, then this is for you. If you're critical or uncomfortable about the privileged role of academic institutions and systems of oppression in generating knowledge, then Rad Ed week is for you.

Rad Ed week is open to everyone, and free, as all education should be.

Events during the week will cover topics including disability activism, radical approaches to the university, anarchism, sex work activism, Sinophobia, unions and much more. The full program of talks, workshops, and panels will be released soon! The program will include some in person, and some online events.

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/2WAHkVsvk

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Radical Education week will share the radical knowledge that has been created, mobilised and sustained inside and outside of academic institutions, by collectiv... es, community activists, and many others. If you think a radically different, emancipatory model of education is possible, then this is for you.

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Want to see your name up in lights? Then the Sydney University Queer Revue is the place for you! Queer Revue is an all-singing, all-dancing comedic production put on at the Seymour Centre every year by queer and queer-friendly students.

There are plenty of ways to get involved, whether you want to strut the stage (acting, singing, dancing) or help out behind the scenes (writing, design, working backstage).

Send an email if you'd like more information and in the meantime, join our Facebook group at 'Sydney University Queer Revue Society'.

All USU Members are welcome.
Why join us?
Famous FOMO experiences on offer

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university of sydney union clubs and societies

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University of Sydney Union - USU Clubs and Societies

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Want to see your name up in lights? Then the Sydney University Queer Revue is the place for you! Queer Revue is an all-singing, all-dancing comedic production put on at the Seymour Centre every year by queer and queer-friendly students.

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Email FASS3999 500+ students a survey about microaggressions or exclusions if they are a part of the LGBTIQA+ community at USyd - qualitative and quantitative data and lived experience accounts. All anonymous, of course!

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ACON - We are a New South Wales based health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention, HIV support and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) health

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We are a New South Wales based health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention, HIV support and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) health

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What do Queer Youth Want For Their Future? | Young & Queer