Zander Moricz gave a powerful speech against ‘Don’t Say Gay’, without saying “gay”. (YouTube/ Liz Ballard) A gay Florida student gave an incredible graduation speech about his fight against the state’s horrific ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation – without saying gay. ‘Don’t Say Gay’, signed into law by Florida governor Ron DeSantis in March, forbids discussion of
Education
Riot police formed a blockade around the students, before arresting them one by one. (Twitter/ budirenisi) A Pride parade at Boğaziçi University, Turkey, was violently broken up by authorities, with dozens of students arrested by riot police. LGBTQ+ people face increasing persecution in Turkey, and in 2015, Instanbul Pride was banned for the first time.
DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts senior Jocelyn Anglesey held a Queer Prom to create a “safe space” for LGBT+ youth in the local area. (YouTube/KSL News) Students in northern Utah have thrown an inclusive prom to create a “safe space” for LGBT+ kids to have fun. Jocelyn Anglesey, a senior at DaVinci Academy
Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. (Facebook/ Wolfson College) A group of four students were victims of a suspected homophobic attack in Cambridge, which left one hospitalised. The four young people, students at the University of Cambridge’s Wolfson College, were attacked in the early hours of Wednesday (23 February), according to university newspaper Varsity. The attack
The child of a school board member in Loudoun County, Virginia, has received a horrific death threat over their mother’s support of trans kids using bathrooms. An anonymous letter addressed directly to the child of school board member Brenda Sheridan read: “It is too bad that your mama is an ugly communist whore. “If she doesn’t
Students walk across the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. (Getty/George Frey) The US Department of Education has dismissed an investigation into how LGBT+ students are treated at Brigham Young University (BYU). The university is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. BYU’s main
Polish president Andrzej Duda. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) A “disastrous” bill that will “punish” LGBT+ youth by curbing access to teaching on queer issues has been passed by Poland’s lower house of parliament. In yet another attempt by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) to stoke hostility against LGBT+ people, lawmakers rammed
Republican Florida state senator and Baptist funeral director Dennis Baxley said discussing LGBT+ issues was “social engineering”. (Florida Senate) The Florida Senate education committee has passed SB 1834, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban discussions about LGBT+ identities in the classroom. The bill, introduced by Republican state senator and Baptist funeral director Dennis
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. (Rohan Thomson/Getty Images) Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has vowed to stop students from being expelled for their sexuality or gender identity by religious schools. In an unexpected turnaround, the right-wing leader who has long been upfront about his evangelical Christian faith, promised to stop faith-based schools from discriminating against
An employment tribunal dismissed a case from a teacher who was sacked from New Christ Church Primary School in Reading over hateful behaviour. (Google street view) A primary school teacher who was sacked after calling colleagues “fat s***s” and “bloody lesbians” had her unfair dismissal claim thrown out in court. Iqbal Khanem was sacked for
Lecturers, trade unionists and students march through central London. (Getty) A queer University College London (UCL) masters student explains why the university’s decision to cut ties with Stonewall is so hurtful. A few days ago, UCL became the first university to sever ties with Stonewall, the largest charity supporting LGBT+ rights in the UK. The
Placard saying “Protect Trans kids” during the Trans march on the streets of Toronto during the Pride Month. (LightRocket via Getty/ Anatoliy Cherkasov/SOPA Images) Schools have been warned to protect student privacy after an attempt by a “gender critical” group in New Zealand to compile information on trans school kids. According to Stuff, an email
Eighteen years after the repeal of Section 28 in England and Wales, almost one in five (17 per cent) teachers are still uncomfortable speaking to pupils about LGBT+ issues, new research has found. The survey of 6,179 primary and secondary teachers across the UK found that only a third (29 per cent) of teachers are
Some local families think the high school play was cancelled after pastor Jeff Lyle “complained about a gay character”. (Facebook/ Jeff Lyle) An Ohio school play has been cancelled just one month before opening after a local pastor “complained about a gay character”. According to local news station WCPO, Hillsboro High School in Ohio was planning
A teacher resigned after a school sought to silence him for telling students he is gay. (Stock photograph via Envato Elements) A Missouri teacher resigned after his school forced him to sign a letter vowing to never tell his students he is gay. John Wallis taught speech and theatre a Neosho Junior High School –
A teacher is under investigation over her pro-LGBT+ lessons. (Envato Elements) A trailblazing teacher who gives children lessons on LGBT+ rights and Black Lives Matter is being investigated by her school district over her inclusive approach to education. The third grade teacher works at the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In her
An activist’s silhouette is seen through a rainbow flag. (Getty) When a school board banned Pride flags a farmer decided to pick up a paintbrush and create a giant show of rainbow solidarity. This week, the school board in the city of Newberg, Oregon, voted to ban Pride and BLM flags, signs and clothing, as
Some teachers told OFSTED the homophobic book was in the boarding school library for “research purposes”. (Envato) A horrific book calling for gay people to be murdered was found by OFTSED inspectors in a boarding school library. The Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was inspected on 18 and 19 May, 2021, by
LGBT+ students were told to “die” in horrific graffiti. (Envato Elements) LGBT+ students were told to “die” in “appalling and terrifying” homophobic graffiti daubed over a Pride flag. Abusive slurs were scrawled on a white board that had a Pride flag projected onto it at Broadland High School in Norfolk, according to the North Norfolk News.
A gay teenager has detailed the abuse he has weathered from his high school bullies. (Stock photograph by Elements Envato) A gay teen in Beijing, China, told his teachers of the daily torment he faced from high school bullies. They told him to tolerate it or drop out, he claims. The anonymous Beijing Water Conservancy
The high school has postponed its Spirit Week after complaints from parents. (Envato) A Christian mother has written to her daughter’s school insisted that celebrating an “LGBT+ Support Day” would “incite hostility” among students. The “LGBT+ Support Day” was intended to be part of Spirit Week at Billings West High School in Montana, but one
Nicholas Hewlett. (Screen capture via YouTube) A headmaster in Britain is set to make “education history” by coming out as gay during an online school assembly Monday (1 February) – and he knows he’s going to cry. Nicholas Hewlett, who leads St Dunstan’s College in the Catford neighbourhood of southeast London, said a conversation with a
Stornoway Harbour, Western Isles. (Getty/ Tim Graham) Councillors in the Western Isles, off the coast of Scotland, have rejected LGBT-inclusive relationships and sex education in favour of Roman Catholic teaching. The Western Isles council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, overwhelmingly voted this month in favour Roman Catholic teaching materials to be used in lessons on relationships,
US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen. (Mark Wilson/Getty) The infamously anti-LGBT+ where Karen Pence is a teacher was “handed almost $1 million in federal funds” intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karen Pence, the wife of US Vice President Mike Pence, teaches art at the conservative Immanuel Christian School in Virginia.
A teenager threatened to shoot students at Wellington High School in New Zealand (Envato Elements) A high school in Wellington, New Zealand, was put into lockdown after police said a teenager threatened to shoot students. Wellington High School was plunged into lockdown on Thursday morning (26 November) after a “credible threat” was made on social
Thomas Brennan was placed on administrative leave by Ferris State University (Facebook/Twitter) A Michigan university professor who tweeted “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs” and dismissed COVID-19 as a “leftist stunt” has been placed on administrative leave. Thomas Brennan, an assistant physical science professor at the Ferris State University in Michigan, was placed on leave on
US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been blasted by LGBT+ activists for her rollbacks of trans protections. (Alex Wong/Getty) A trans teacher has set out what America needs from the Biden-Harris administration’s future education secretary: the polar opposite of Betsy DeVos. Since 2017, anti-LGBT+ Betsy DeVos has ruled over the US education system under
Less than a third of secondary school students said their teachers challenged anti-LGBT+ language. (Envato) Almost half (46 per cent) of LGBT+ school students in England do not feel safe to be themselves at school, a study has revealed. LGBT+ education charity Diversity Role Models released its “Pathways to LGBT+ Inclusion” report Wednesday (18 November),
Thousands of school children were sent vulgar homophobic messages from a teacher’s email address. (Stock photograph via Elements Envato) A tidal wave of messages described by school leaders as “lewd, racist, antisemitic and homophobic” were sent to thousands of students after a teacher’s email was hacked. A math teacher at Niles West High School, in
Students walk across the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty) A toxic fraternity, which claims to be one of the oldest in America, is suing a chapter that admitted women and non-binary members for causing “irreparable harm” to its “image”. In 2016, Stephanie Stoneback was asked to pledge the fraternity Sigma