Fran Wilde Groundbreaking gay equality campaigner Fran Wilde has called on parents, schools and the medical fraternity to work harder to ensure that young glbti people feel good about themselves. Wilde is the straight politician and mother of three who shepherded the massively controversial Homosexual Law Reform campaign through Parliament in the 1980s. She told an HIV and sexual health conference this morning that while lives for most gay men and other glbti people have improved since the law change, young glbti people still face "great problems" and need to be supported. Wilde noted that during Homosexual Law Reform the adult generation of the time had been brought up in ignorance of the reality of homosexual people and their lives, often believing that gays were perverts and child molesters. She says today's parents should not be harbouring such toxic misconceptions. "Parents in their 40s, who have lived most of their lives in a country where gay sex is legal in many cases would be devastated to find that their daughter or son was queer." Wilde said those caring for young glbti people also need to understand that they live in an age of "the cruel, uncompromising and very public world of social media... How hard it must be for lgbti kids to know what to do or who to turn to on issues of sexuality." She urged the clinicians present "to think about how best to engage and help young people understand that different sexual orientations are ok." The former MP implored them to "ensure that the next generation of young New Zealanders are confident and supported in their sexuality whatever it is. Please help them."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 8th May 2015 - 1:20pm