Sat 24 Sep 2011 In: Hall of Fame View at Wayback View at NDHA
"Queer our Schools" is the first campaign to be born from Wellington-based group The Queer Avengers, which emerged from the Queer the Night march in the capital. We find out more about the group and what changes it wants in the nation's schools. In June a vibrant collection of people hit the headlines with a march through the Wellington streets where they made it clear they were sick of violence and abuse being hurled against gay, lesbian, trans, bisexual ... (or as they prefer to simply do, drop the lists of identities and simply say "queer") ... people in the central city. After the rousing chants and speeches the marchers have not fallen silent or just wandered back to their day to day lives, in fact a solid group has been meeting every Thursday to discuss the issues the community faces and ways to fight for change. Under the moniker The Queer Avengers they now are planning a three-pronged campaign, the first part which will focus on youth. On 6 October a march will be held from the Ministry of Education at 45-47 Pipitea St in Thorndon, through to Midland Park on Lambton Quay, where there will be speeches and entertainment. The Queer Avengers have four clear demands for the Ministry of Education: 1. Government resourcing for the formation of student-led, community supported queer-straight alliances in every secondary school in the country. 2. Incorporating sexuality and gender variance diversity into all relevant subjects, including history, health, science and English. 3. Making schools accessible and safe for gender variant students A. Gender neutral bathrooms/private changing facilities B. Non-gendered dress codes C. Resources and education which fits the needs of gender variant students D. Trans affirming spaces and role models 4. Zero-tolerance of homophobic Jacqui Stanford - 24th September 2011