-˜That’s so gay’ not OK
Education minister Bronwyn Pike has ruled out using an American-style celebrity campaign to battle homophobia.
Teen pop star Hilary Duff stars in a new campaign targeting homophobia, launched by the US-based Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
Titled Think b4 You Speak, the advertising campaign features Duff and US comedian Wanda Sykes confronting teenagers who use the expression -œthat’s so gay.
The campaign is aimed at combating a common form of schoolyard homophobia and also includes print advertisements that mimic dictionary entries for the words -œgay, -œfaggot and -œdyke.
The Victorian education department alerted state school sex educators to the campaign last week, but Pike has ruled out a similar television campaign.
-œThe Victorian Government is already doing a lot of work in this area and is implementing a range of programs which ensure that learning environments cater for all children so they feel safe, respected and included, Pike told Southern Star.
She said 3000 kits were distributed to Victorian schools this year specifically addressing use of the term -œthat’s so gay.
In July, the Brumby Government announced a policy for state schools to encourage diversity as a guide for principals and teachers to address issues faced by same-sex attracted students.
Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria’s director Anne Mitchell said the campaign could cover other issues around homophobia.
-œI think policy’s a really important statement that says -˜OK, it’s part of your professional work, now you’ve got to deal with it’, but I think a public education campaign would be terrific and helpful in making parents a bit more responsive to gay kids, she said.
Mitchell said she thinks the government is taking the campaign seriously, however not enough is being done.
-œI do think it’s strategic they’re not doing more. I don’t think it’s a lack of will -” whether they do more in the future when the dust settles will be the test of that.
A 2005 La Trobe University report, Writing Themselves In Again, revealed that 44 percent of the 1745Â young people surveyed reported verbal abuse, and 16 percent reported physical abuse because of their sexuality.
info: for more information visit www.thinkb4youspeak.com
There are many things that are ok to call gay. Mitch and Cam off modern family, Ellen, Mardi Gras etc.
When you use “gay” in a pejorative way, the effect that it has on the gay kid in the room or the kid with gay relatives, is that being gay is less than, or inferior to. And our bar cannot be that a day that you just get through life or just get through school and don’t get harassed qualifies as a good day.
So, the next time you start to say ‘That’s So Gay,’ stop yourself and use a REAL, SYNTACTICALLY CORRECT WORD and maybe, at the same time, increase your brain power with these awesome smart-sounding words to make you seem even more of an intellectual!