It’s disheartening that a cornerstone of our beliefs as an institution is inclusion, but ‘don’t act so gay’ and other variations (quickly followed by a ‘no offense’) are phrases that follow you around relentlessly, and that class discussions about the queer community are always so othering, in that they assume nobody present identifies as LGBTQ+. Heritage is at the forefront of social and environmental activism, but when it comes to taking a stand against queerphobia, there’s nothing but a deep, resounding silence.
May 17th is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. To celebrate, we embarked on an interview of sorts, talking to fellow queer identifying students on if they feel safe and accepted and how we, as a community, can do better.
Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Do you think Heritage is a supportive environment?
Most queer students at HXLS agree that it attempts to be inclusive and that effort in itself is more than what other schools are willing to put in. Heritage as a school is not intrinsically oppressive of LGBTQ+ people, but there is no conscious effort made to amplify queer voices.
I don't think Heritage as a school is intrinsically supportive or oppressive of LGBTQ+ students. Ever since coming out, both the best of my experiences and the worst of my experiences have been due to students rather than specific policies or teachers at our school. -Anonymous, grade 12
In terms of support, I’d rate it a 50/50. Most of my peers have been pretty supportive of the fact that I am bisexual, however there are those who criticise me for the same. -Aarushi Godika, grade 9
Personally, I do believe so. It’s not only the teachers, it’s the values, the type of people we become in heritage, we learn different aspects of life. My friends, my teachers, all of them were quite supportive. Heritage was a great help to me. -Udai Bakshi, former student
In my experience, teachers have been way more accepting than most students (which is amazing yet concerning). I find it comforting that several teachers that I know are very receptive and helpful and I am extremely grateful for all of them. -Anonymous, grade 12
To be honest, I don’t think so. Except for from a few students, I have heard a lot of rude and ignorant comments. -Anonymous, grade 11
Do people treat you differently if they know you’re queer / did people treat you differently when you came out?
All the students said that they felt a change in their relationships with some people.
Udai Bakshi, a former student, spoke about how acceptance about his sexuality improved with time, “There were different types of behavior; some treated me as a “special” person, some people would maintain their distance, but gradually people started opening up.”
Luckily, most of the people I have come out to have either been queer themselves or good friends of mine so "coming out" has been a pretty acceptable experience so far. But I have definitely felt a slight change in my relationships with some of these people. I don't think that they consciously "treat me differently", but I do know that a lot has changed in my relationships with some of my friends since I "came out" to them. -Anonymous, grade 12
What do you think the school (teachers, counsellors, students) could do to make LGBTQ+ students feel safe?
In a world where our existence is political, the school has a responsibility to actively promote support and acceptance. While the school has begun to do so now, there is a long way to go until every queer student feels safe coming out of the closet into an environment free of discrimination or ignorance.
There are so many things we could do in our school that would provide a safe and secure environment to the LGBTQ+ students in our society: workshops for parents (which is extremely important), a counsellor for students who need a safe place to talk, and even possibly a pride day celebration in our school. There are an infinite amount of things that we could do as a community and all of them would lead to the world becoming a safer and better place, so... why not just do them? -Anonymous, grade 12
Teaching aspects of LGBTQ+ history and issues within expedition might also go a long way in normalizing the LGBTQ+ for the student body. Curriculum is more flexible under experiential education until 8th grade and our school has in the past used that to introduce children to several social issues before, why not do so with this? -Anonymous, grade 12
Multiple students talked about the lack of sex-ed, or even simply queer information workshops. One student mentioned that their existence would “not only make things easier for the LGBTQ+ students, but it would reduce the stigma and misconceptions that straight counterparts develop, mostly purely out of ignorance.”
Learn more about what the world is doing on May 17 here: www.may17.org
I'm so happy that this is finally being spoken about in our school!! Thank you for doing this, not only for the LGBTQIA+ community but also for making people more aware about this!! This is a great first step!! Thank you!!