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I'm tabby bes. I'm the managing director at inside out. Uh, so the history of National Schools Pride Week. Well, it's very recent history, because this is our first year. Um, it sort of came about, um, kind of building upon the day of silence campaign, that inside out has been running, um, nationally since 2014. And I guess, um, yeah, over the time of of running that campaign, which is kind of international and is around the, um, creating more awareness around the silencing effects of bullying and discrimination [00:00:30] in our schools, Um, particularly for young people from the rainbow community. Um, what we found is that yeah, it sort of started to feel like it was less relevant and a lot more, um, schools that were taking part in that some of them were actually turning into a a more of a, um, like Wellington High school. Um, for example, turning into an out loud day, so sort of, um, flipping it and, um went for some schools in, like, turning into a real pride celebration and having music and ice box. And, um so [00:01:00] I guess a really important part of that campaign was always around How do we break the silence? Um, and create spaces to celebrate our identities and make it OK and make those changes. So yeah, I guess we sort of have taken that feedback, um, that we've been seeing from schools, and we sort of, um, put a survey out and lots of people were really keen to see a pride week. Um, but we also got feedback that for some schools, the day of silence campaign is still, um, really relevant. And it's kind of the one opportunity they found to have to really highlight the bullying [00:01:30] that our communities face. And, um, it's been really important for them. So we sort of, um, have still provided that as an option and kept all of the resource that is up. Um, and so that was last Friday. So the Friday before Pride Week starts. So the idea is that Pride week then breaks the silence, Um, after the day of silence for those that want to take part in that. So, um yeah, I guess that's a little bit of kind of how it's come about. Some schools, uh, have been doing pride for a long time. Um, so my high school and college back in the day, we did [00:02:00] used to, um, run a pride week. So it's quite exciting now, kind of more than 10 years later looking at, um, how we've got over 100 schools involved doing Pride Week around the country just to backtrack just a little bit. Could you just tell me where the day of silence came from? Yeah. So it originated. Um, I believe in the 19 eighties in America, um and yeah, from there just kind of expanded. And I believe there's, like, over 70 countries worldwide that have taken part and then jumping forward to the Pride weeks [00:02:30] with, uh, say natal in college 10 years ago. What, uh, Drew na college to want to do a week, I guess. Just an opportunity, really to to Yeah, celeb celebrate. And, um, yeah, be be proud and kind of, um, spread awareness around the school a bit more because I think often rain diversity groups. Sometimes they can be very living in their little pockets. And there might not be much actual awareness of the rest of the school community around that. That group even exists. Or, um, what [00:03:00] that means or, you know, that kind of normalising our identities. So, um, yeah, I'm I'm not 100% sure for that specific. Um, start of that. But I imagine it would have been around some of those ideas. And so this year is the first national schools Pride Week. How did, um, schools react to the idea? Yeah. We've had such a positive response from schools. Uh, it's been awesome. As I said, over 100 have signed up from right from an early childhood institute [00:03:30] to several kind of tertiary, um, institutions, um, mostly secondary schools, a handful of kind of primary and intermediates as well. And yeah, people have just been Yeah, really keen We ran out of. We sent 10,000 kind of rainbow stickers out across the country and, um, ran out, um, very quickly. So, yeah, it's been really cool as well to just kind of see some of the activities that people have been doing, Um, coming up on social media. And so, what kind of activities have people been planning? Uh, all sorts of things. Um, [00:04:00] it's pride parades in schools. Um, kind of pride markets and stores. A lot of bake sales um, one I particularly loved we saw last night was at girls college. They did. They got all their school houses involved to do a baking, or, like a cake decoration competition themed around pride. And the cakes look very impressive. Um, on their facebook page, if anyone wants to check it out. Um, so, yeah, that was a cool one. Lots of, um, face painting cahoots. Which is like a quiz where you can [00:04:30] Yeah, ask questions. I think people can answer on their phones, and we put one up around, um, identifying different pride flags on our website as a resource that people can use. Um, people have been using it as an opportunity to kind of educate within their school. So doing workshops for teachers or, um, one school today was doing an ally ship workshop for students on how to be better allies to, um, Rainbow communities. Uh, one really cool has been to every day. They've been uploading, um, little Instagram videos on called their Pride [00:05:00] guide. And so they've covered things like history, representation in the media pronouns and kind of different topics. They're doing just a few minutes each day, and that's going out to the school community. So this sounds completely different to when I went to school all those decades ago. Um, has anything surprised you because it just sounds so kind of like open and inclusive, I don't think has surprised me, but I can imagine it would surprise a lot of people [00:05:30] who aren't as kind of caught up in the day to day of, like, how things have been changing and and part of that because I think for me, we working really actively with schools across this time. I guess it feels like a more gradual thing, whereas I guess for people that aren't as aware of kind of those changes or what or what's going on or connected with those schools or young people I can imagine it must be like, Oh, wow, there's suddenly all this like, um yeah, pride and celebration. And I guess for me it's more that it's taken, you know, it's taken a lot of work to get to that place. Um, [00:06:00] but we have seen some. Yeah, quite a few, like faith based schools taking part, which is always, you know, it really kind of signifies the times of change. um uh, live in intermediate. That was one of my favourites. And they've been actually doing really cool things. They did like a, um, a pride disco and a like a lunchtime concert and things. So yeah, And in terms of kind of geographic spread of these schools from all across the country or specific parts, Yeah. No, it's been pretty kind of across the country. Um, yeah. [00:06:30] I don't have the little graph in front of me, but, um, yeah, pretty wide widespread around New Zealand. And you're saying, uh, is the intermediate school the the kind of youngest age group that's taking part in in schools? No. So there was at least one early childhood that registered, um, and a few primary schools as well. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, what do you put down to this? This kind of move towards kind of inclusivity? Uh, a few things. I think. Obviously, the more awareness and representation that there is, um [00:07:00] yeah, kind of in a and and globally, obviously has a huge impact. And we're seeing more and more young people able to kind of come out younger. Not that they haven't been there in previous generations. It's just, um yeah, now that they're open. And we held last night a youth panel for pride, um, week with some young people, um, sharing their experiences and quite a lot of others, um, shared through Facebook comments and on the zoom chat as well about their experiences. And, um, several people were actually talking about experiences with with a previous [00:07:30] or I think some current as well intermediate students. Um, And what's that? What? That's kind of like and, um, yeah, to me, it's really exciting. Um, I feel like just now we're in sort of this time when, you know, even a few years ago, it would be very rare for us to hear about an intermediate student who was kind of open around two or kind of trying to figure that out. Um, and we're seeing a lot more primary schools get in touch, particularly around the gender diverse Children. Um, wanting to be kind of open at school or wanting support for that, [00:08:00] Um so I think just a lot more awareness. And as society becomes more accepting, obviously that starts to be replicated in our schools as well. Um, but of course, inside out work. Um, I'm sure has been a huge kind of part of that, actually having those resources out there, um, for schools in a place that they can come to students can come to their families can come to to get that, um, yeah. Support advocacy resources to enable those, um, changes within school. Do you find after [00:08:30] doing, um, something like this Pride week? You get a lot more inquiries from schools wanting to set up, Um, um, support groups or individual students? Yeah. And it's one of the questions we ask when they register. Actually is. Do you have a group? Do you want one? So we can sort of follow up afterwards and kind of say awesome that you've done this. And how can we support you to kind of maintain and kind of do that ongoing, um, work as well? Are the activities being driven by the students or by the the the the teachers or principals? [00:09:00] Um, a bit of both. Uh, there was a really nice comment on the workshop last night where, uh, one of the youth advisory group members who's been organising pride in their school, talked about how their, um, students and staff would really come together for organising pride. And it that was something you don't often see in a school. That real collaboration to kind of put something together, which was really cool. Um, and some other I know some teachers who were listening They kind of reflected similar things that happened in their schools, which was awesome. But I think it does. Yeah. Depend on the school a lot of the time. I guess it can be a lot [00:09:30] more student, um, driven, particularly in schools where there may not be as much staff support. Um, but I think we've seen as well, particularly for Rambo teachers. It's something they are quite often keen to get involved with. Um, yeah, so a real variety. So the weeks run from the 24th to the 28th of August. So we're actually on the last day today. Why this time of the year? Because in in New Zealand, normally kind of pride is around kind of March. February? Yes. So it was meant to [00:10:00] be in June. Um, but obviously this year we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. And so during, um, June, well, we'd just come out of lockdown and the country had just come out of lockdown before June. And so we I guess at the time we decided to postpone, we didn't know how long we'd be in lockdown, and we wanted to make sure that schools still had time to organise it and didn't feel too kind of rushed. So, um and not yeah, have. Hopefully, um, that they would have, you know, been back in level [00:10:30] one and not have to have the concerns around social distancing. Um, so we postponed it to August for that reason. And then, um obviously, just before, um, if you can't remember now a week or two before that, we the whole country has gone back into level two, and Auckland, unfortunately, is back in lockdown. Which means Auckland schools haven't been able to participate. Um, and so some of them we've seen doing things online, which is really cool. Um, but I think most of them are looking to kind of postpone in, um, this year because [00:11:00] of COVID-19. Um, Pink Shirt day has also got postponed to October. So many of them are are looking to run week the same week as Pink Shirt Day in October and kind of bring those two together, which will be cool. Um, And because we're working with schools, um, whereas most regions around celebrate pride in February march for schools, it's the very start of the school year. It's just not practical in terms of giving them time to organise or those students being able to step forward. Yeah, So you've touched on COVID-19. And I wonder just more generally, [00:11:30] how has inside out coped with, uh, this this global pandemic? Yes. It's been a very interesting time. Um, I think we've done yeah, really? Well, our staff and volunteers have just been amazing, Um, kind of coming together, uh, at the start of I guess the the pandemic and, um, lockdown. We had to turn our annual shift to event, um, into an online event instead. So it usually happens for four days on, and, um, we turned it into a two [00:12:00] line 22 line two week about, say, two years, two week, uh, event, um, via zoom and discord. Um, and it just been amazingly uh, yeah, it was incredible. Still, all these young people from around the country kind of getting involved, And, um, we didn't know if we create the same feelings of connection that you do in that kind of real life community environment. Um, but people reflected that. They really did. And we still did, kind of all pretty much all the things that we usually do. Like the talent show, [00:12:30] um, for example, via but thankful at times. But mostly was yeah, really, really awesome. Uh, so that was a really big thing for us right at the start that we had to adapt to very quickly. Um, Then we ran a series of kind of online workshops and focused on putting out, um, yeah, support of social media and just letting our community, you know, that we were there for them. And, um, yeah, Still trying to hold events to kind of help people feel connected. And, um, yeah, those went really well, And, [00:13:00] um, yeah, I guess we experienced other things. Obviously, uh, several of our, um, staff are schools coordinators around the country, and they weren't able to be going into schools for that time, so they just had to Yeah, sort of adapt again, doing things online, or, uh, working on resources and other bits and pieces during that time. Um, and our education services kind of had a big drop off. Obviously, we can deliver workshops during that time, so, yeah, that was, um, yeah, but difficult. Like closing kind of expected income [00:13:30] for a few months as well. But, um, yeah, overall, I think, Yeah, we've just adapted really well, and it's we've learned new things from it, too, in terms of what we can do online and how, um, I guess particularly again as a national organisation, ways to kind of be more accessible to people, too. So, yeah, ups and downs. And what about the feedback from from, uh, younger people in terms of how have they reacted to COVID-19 and lockdowns? Um, it's quite [00:14:00] yeah, it's quite mixed. I don't think we know enough about it. So I understand The Minister of Youth Development is currently doing a bit of a project to try and learn more about ramping and people's experiences, Um, in particular, which is really good and important. Um, some of the work they have done already shows that rugby young people were kind of more negatively impacted. And I guess one of the main areas is around that, um for those that are in living in unsupportive kind of home environments. And so in a yeah, unsupportive bubble, not having that support [00:14:30] around and whereas usually they might be able to, you know, go to their own diversity group once a week or have their friends at school or those kinds of things Um, yeah, Obviously that wasn't there. And for some people to if, um, they didn't have Internet access Or, you know, if everyone in their family was using WiFi or some young people, for example, couldn't take part in shift because, um, yeah, because of those kind of Internet issues or their family were working from home and wouldn't let them use WiFi during work hours so that it wasn't too slow and things like that. So, um yeah, those [00:15:00] kinds of barriers. Um I think for quite a few people to coming out of that lockdown period like anxiety has been quite a a big issue for people in the community like that. Kind of going out and being around people again. Um, and I guess another one that we've seen is for a lot of people, it was quite a reflective time. And so we've seen more and more young people. Um, who came out of that lockdown experience the first time. And, um, have during that time been kind of questioning their identity or have made decisions that when they go back [00:15:30] to school, actually, they want to be called by this name and these pronouns and things like that. So, um, yeah, I definitely saw quite a few schools. Um, more schools reaching out. Kind of panicking about how to support students. Um, with some of those challenges which must make something like, um, schools Pride Week happening after lockdown. Um, just so much more. Um uh, important, I guess. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. I haven't thought of that. Um, yeah, we're [00:16:00] at the end of the week now, And I wonder, uh, one, how the week was for you and the kind of feedback you've had and any standout events. Yeah, it's been really great. Um, I've loved seeing, particularly on instagram what different schools and groups that are doing. And, um, getting to see that visual kind of element. Um, because obviously we can't be in every school around the country, so it's Yeah, it's really cool to get little glimpses into what people are doing and what that kind of means. Um, [00:16:30] for them, um, it's been a very busy week as well, and I think as well because this year we had such a small, um, budget to run the campaign off. It was the first time and lock down on all these all these things. Um, yeah. It's really great to see the response it has had and also already getting all these ideas and, um, excited for how we can kind of build upon it for the future, often as well. It's not until after the week that we you know, when we sort of do an evaluation survey, ask everyone, Please send us your photos that we get to kind of learn more about it. [00:17:00] So, um, yeah, there's not one thing that stands out to me at the moment, but I'm looking forward to kind of learning more about what's happened. So what are the plans for next year and in the Pride Week? Yeah, well, I think first it we're just really excited to, um, put out a survey and, um, encourage people to kind of give feedback on what's worked for them this year and what their ideas are. I think we'll get a lot from hearing. Um, yeah, what different schools and groups have done to take part, and that will give us lots of great ideas for further activities. [00:17:30] Um, hopefully next year, we can move it back to June. Um, because I think what we've noticed is a lot of, um, young people, because June is kind of Pride month in America and other places, and they're often really connected to that on social media and things. Um, that we often see them celebrating online things around pride in June. So hopefully we can do around that timing to come tie in with that. Um, hopefully Auckland can take part at the same time as everyone else. Um, I think, too, there's lots more we can do around. Um, [00:18:00] this year we chose different themes for each kind of day, um, of pride and built some activities around those, but yeah, I think we can just kind of grow that more. And for ourselves as well. Maybe looking at what we can put out online each day to tie in with the theme or, um, yeah, just more ways to kind of get people involved. And, um, I loved Yeah, the panel, The youth panel that we did worked really well. So I would love to do that. Or maybe look at other events. We also did an instagram poetry live, um, to tie in with that out on the shelves [00:18:30] campaign, which has been running along the same time. So that's been cool. So So what were the themes per day? So today is Friday. So it's where your pride so kind of pride and celebration theme to end the week on and the other themes were history and inclusion and accessibility, health and well-being and education. And you also mentioned, um, out on the shelves. Can you just tell me a little bit about that? Yeah. So, out on the shelves is our campaign to celebrate, um, Rainbow Representation and Stories and Media and, [00:19:00] um, surround getting school and public or community libraries to take part and kind of recognise, um, the yeah, rainbow stories in their collection. So this year, we ran it for two weeks. It's a third year running the campaign and, um, we invite school and public community libraries around the country to put out a display of their rainbow collections or new books. And, um, we've got a website with a database so people can kind of search if they want a gay sci fi book or a sexual [00:19:30] fantasy, um, Children's book. So, yeah, they can sort of browse and kind of find things that help reflect their identities and their experiences back to them. Um, and we also have a set of kind of identity bookmarks, um, with a different kind of flags and different identities and books with characters from that identity which, um, get distributed around the country. So we had, um, definitely over 100 and 50 kind of orders that we've sent out. Um had to order more bookmarks as well. So we always run out of those. So, um, yeah, that's had [00:20:00] a fantastic response as well. And so a lot of, um, schools were also doing that library display at the same time as Pride Week. So right at the start of the interview, you were talking about, uh, some of your experiences at nail college 10 years ago, and I guess just in, um, to to wrap the interview up is are you able to compare what, uh, like pride? And like those pride events 10 years ago, Na College were like to what you're experiencing now I think that school and, you know, and and others around [00:20:30] that kind of time that we're doing things were sort of ahead of the times. You know, like, I don't think there's a huge amount that has changed from my kind of memories. Like thinking about it just then. I was like, Well, yeah, I remember that. You know, we had a rainbow slat in the library, and, um, you know, we did. We did the day of silence. Um, trying to remember what we We used to get the teachers to wear rainbow ribbons. Um, yeah, it probably wasn't as I think we did, like face painting and fake sales and things. Maybe it wasn't quite as kind of out there [00:21:00] as some schools are doing now. So, um yeah, for example, the schools that are doing, like the pride parades in a school, it's pretty awesome. That started at college a couple of years ago. Um, or yeah, things like that kind of market Pride Day. And yeah, really, like more whole school Kind of getting involved in things. Um, the Pride parade. They also, um I think that I attended it. They kind of ended that with a great little kind of concert in the school hall as well. And they had different other like, clubs and groups in the school performing. [00:21:30] And it was really nice to see that support from different groups within the school coming together to show their support for the Rainbow Group and the pride, Um, day. So, yeah, that was that's really cool. But I guess the biggest, um difference or change is just the the scale of it that it's, you know, so many more schools participating and that it's, um yes, not as a so much an out there kind of idea. Um, it's, you know, it's national schools Project. So there's yeah, that sense of kind of, [00:22:00] um yeah, doing it alongside others, and that it's an important kind of meaningful thing that we should get involved with to show our support for rugby. Young people in our school.
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