LGBT group in a secondary school

Pi.R^2 · 03-05-2015, 07:21 PM

My school is considering starting one and I wondered if anyone has any experience of such things as I want to be able to make suggestions and help in the setting up of the group. Was there one at your school and how was it run? If not, would you have been interested in such a group and what would you want it to offer? I've never really been part of an LGBT group of any kind so have no idea what one would involve!

I'm aware that this will have to be planned really carefully as unfortunately there will be a big risk of students being unkind to others for attending etc.

Epicene · 03-05-2015, 07:39 PM

This is such a great idea. My thoughts would be that it might help to say its for lgbt+ allies, so that friends of lgbt people can come. It might reduce the chances of kids encountering problems for attending. If I were a young person attending, I'd probably be interested in actually tackling issues like stigma, bullying etc and not just a social club.

I've helped out running groups for trans young people based on a cbt model and its had loads of good feedback. When the group starts everyone checks in by saying how they feel and which pronouns they use, and have a chance to reflect on this and check out at the end (offers a chance for people to change the way they identify). The groups have a clear focus each week, such as relationships, identity, friends, family etc. You're welcome to drop me a pm if you have any questions.

Charmed · 03-05-2015, 11:16 PM

This is a great idea! It would have been fantastic if my school had one also.

I agree with the above posts, inviting allies and allowing suggestions is a good idea. I was part of the LGBT group at Uni (I know this would be quite different) but they also called it LGBT+ which I think was good in not neglecting other sexualities and genders. They held events throughout the year, for example pride events etc. and different events during LGBT awareness month which were really good and inclusive of everyone. They also held different meetings with lots of fun things, so for example during a lunchtime you could just do games or things so it's not about being LGBT it's just a safe place for LGBT people to hang out.

I don't actually have any useful suggestions so this is a bit of a pointless post but I basically think this is a great idea and wish you all the luck!

Pi.R^2 · 04-05-2015, 03:53 PM

Those are all great suggestions, thank you so much!

I think having it for allies and friends of LGBT students, as that would reduce stigma around attending, and hopefully also mean more people attend so it's not just one or two very brave students at the first meeting, which I imagine would feel a bit awkward.

ASkatersDream... · 04-05-2015, 08:59 PM

The problem you will face is if other kids found out in the school they went and would be nasty as kids can be to that particular person and how you would deal with it.

Dunno especially within a school how it would happen without the above happening

Pi.R^2 · 04-05-2015, 10:43 PM

I think that would be a great idea Carmen, thanks!

Laura, as I mentioned in my original post, I'm aware that that will be an issue, hence why it will need to be handled sensitively. Part of the group's mission will probably be to tackle issue like that, as currently I think there are still incidents of homophobia in school, but we are perhaps lacking any focused way of trying to educate those who do end up involved in homophobic bullying.

Epicene · 06-05-2015, 07:58 AM

Oh I love the idea of teachers having a sticker! I also think that it'd be nice for lgbt teachers to be open about their sexuality in front of the students. Not in any detail, but whereas straight teachers refer to husbands or wives without a second thought, often gay people don't.

ASkatersDream... · 06-05-2015, 09:51 AM

I messaged you about this :)

Leo Pard · 07-05-2015, 08:40 PM

In my opinion, the only problem with opening it up to allies as well would mean that you will probably get some people go just to disrupt the group and that could take away the safe space for the LGBTQ+ students.
Sounds like an awesome idea though and it needs to happen in more schools. The only way I see is to have it closely watched by a teacher and will have to be closely monitored so as not to cause bullying issues and the like.
Hope that makes some sort of sense, just to put in another perspective.