October 16, 2024
An open letter from the Out In Schools Education Director Gavin K Somers in advance of the upcoming BC Provincial Elections on October 19th in support of SOGI-inclusive education.
PREFACE
In the lead-up to the 2024 BC Provincial election, a group of concerned educators, parents, and activists formed The Coalition for SOGI Inclusive Learning Environments. Our coalition called on the responsibility of all electoral candidates to share truthful and accurate information regarding SOGI*-inclusive education. Our correspondence included a SOGI fact sheet and urged public officials to continue learning about the importance of and express public support for SOGI-inclusive education.
*SOGI stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity. In 2016, the BC government announced changes to support SOGI in schools. SOGI 123 is a set of free resources for teachers created to bridge the gap in content and resources which are affirming of 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, communities, and families.
THE LETTER
The Out In Schools program has been delivering film-based educational programming in schools throughout British Columbia since 2004. The Out In Schools program uses 2SLGBTQIA+ film to facilitate discussion with students and educators to create safer learning environments for people of all Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities (SOGI). I have had the great privilege of being a part of delivering this program for half its life.
When I started as a program facilitator in 2014, I was in my mid/late twenties and had been out as transgender for nearly 8 years. What excited me about Out In Schools was being able to bring my lived experience as a queer and trans person into schools, to create safer spaces for young people to learn and ask questions.
As a young person, I grew up with no gay, queer, or transgender role models or representation. Starting my journey with Out In Schools, I remember thinking back to my time in high school and imagining what life might have been like for me if I had ever met an “out” queer person, read a book that had queer representation, or had a presentation where language was used that reflected my lived experience.
Now, I oversee the Out In Schools program as Education Director, and over the last ten years I’ve seen a lot of changes; when I started, the work to educate about queer and trans identities was rooted in the equation of “language + terminology = allyship”. Well, times have changed, and while students now understand the language and terminology, that no longer leads to allyship or safer learning environments for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
I believe that with any kind of social change, there is always movement. When we become visible, we gain more rights, and in response, we also receive more backlash. There is rarely linear progress when it comes to people’s social beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours, which is why, when it comes to elections, we cannot support those who plan to roll back protections on basic human rights.
I won’t lie, there is a lot at stake in the BC Provincial election this week. As we’ve seen in provinces like New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and most recently Alberta, protections supporting transgender and gender-diverse youth are being rolled back. In this upcoming election, the BC Conservative Party has followed suit and taken to making SOGI a “wedge issue” by calling SOGI 123 “too divisive” and pledging to remove SOGI learning materials from schools.
The removal of 2SLGBTQIA+ content from schools won’t erase the existence of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. It will only ostracize them.
I always knew something was different about me. I remember being called homophobic slurs in the hallways of my high school, before I realized I was queer or knew what those words meant. I didn’t even know that it was possible to be trans. When I heard the word “genderqueer” for the first time, I realized there was language for how I’d always felt. It was euphoric to finally have words to describe my experience! In my time working with Out In Schools, I have witnessed countless young people have similar experiences of validation.
The human rights, dignities, and protections of 2SLGBTQIA+ people should never be up for debate, especially not in a provincial election.
The removal of “SOGI [inclusive] learning materials” will be detrimental to all youth, not just those who are 2SLGBTQIA+. Research just released by UBC’s Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) in the School of Nursing found that SOGI 123 reduced bullying and discrimination targeted toward LGBQ+ youth above and beyond GSAs’ impacts, as well as reduced bullying and discrimination among heterosexual students.
Encouragingly, results also suggest that continued implementation of SOGI 123 over time will improve results even further, and that the training and support for school staff provided by SOGI 123 helps reduce bullying and discrimination in schools, for both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual students.
Access to queer content doesn’t make people queer; but it can make us feel less alone and better understood by our peers.
Instead of attacking vulnerable youth, I encourage our government to address real and pressing issues regarding the state of education in our province beyond the need for inclusive learning materials.
A well-funded and resourced education system is a pillar to supporting youth – the decision-makers of our future.
For more information on some key party’s Education Platforms, see below.
BC New Democrats Party
BC Green Party
BC Conservative Party
Gavin K Somers is the Education Director for Out On Screen and oversees the Out In Schools program. They are the proud parent of a three-year-old, and tertiary caregiver to an eleven-year-old attending public school in BC.
Out In Schools supports students and educators province-wide by delivering adaptable educational programming using 2SLGBTQIA+ film and storytelling. Support SOGI inclusive learning environments by making a donation today.