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Media Release: Over 100 Schools have joined Safe Schools Coalition Victoria!

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria

Media Release                                                
For immediate distribution – please on forward
Monday 16th April 2013

Over 100 Schools have joined Safe Schools Coalition Victoria!

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria have welcomed their 100 and 101st new member schools this month. Glen Eira College and Elwood College joined on the same day to push the membership into 3 figures! The news was greeted with cheers from over 400 young people when it was announced at the Same Sex Formal on Saturday night (April 6th). The highly popular event, organised by Minus18 in partnership with Safe Schools Coalition Victoria aimed to create a safe, supportive and celebratory space for same sex attracted young people and their friends, whilst also raising awareness of inclusion at school formals more generally.

Since launching in October 2010, support for the coalition has continued to increase throughout the state. The program has delivered professional learning sessions with over 2,500 school staff across Victoria, and reached thousands of students through school based projects and partnerships. It has also distributed thousands of information booklets, posters, and stickers to school staff and students.

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria is funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Department of Health. Based at Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria at La Trobe University, research is used to make sure that training and resources are high quality and relevant to the broader education framework.

The coalition aims to create school environments ‘where every family can belong, where every teacher can teach and every student can learn’. Government schools in Victoria have a positive duty to support sexual diversity, and ensure that there is no homophobic or transphobic bullying or discrimination.

Roz Ward, co-founder and co-ordinator of the coalition said;

“It is very exciting to welcome our 100th school to the coalition. When we launched back in 2010 nobody quite knew just how popular the coalition would become.

We have received so much positive feedback; we just know this is making a difference to students all across Victoria, and in all different kinds of schools.

The cheers from students at the same sex formal to this news, just shows how important this initiative has been in giving young people the confidence to just  be themselves. We want everyone at school to feel like they belong, and whatever their gender or sexuality, they are valued as part of the community”

— Ends —

Roz Ward, Coordinator of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria is available for interview.

T: 03 9285 5131 | M: 0450 319952 | E: r.ward@latrobe.edu.au

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE: www.sscv.org.au

Roz Ward
Youth Programs, Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society
La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne 3000
T:03 9285 5131 F:03 9285 5220
E: r.ward@latrobe.edu.au

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria

Michael Kirby: Why Jewish Lawyers Should Support Marriage Equality

This speech by Michael Kirby was presented on February 25 2013 to the WA Society of Jewish Jurists and Lawyers in Perth, Western Australia.

 

When faith and sexuality collide | The Age

When faith and sexuality collide | The Age.

Media Release: JCCV tackles homophobia but must prove it is serious

Aleph Melbourne Media Release
March 28 2013
“JCCV tackles homophobia, but must prove it is serious”

Aleph Melbourne congratulates the Jewish Community Council of Victoria for aligning themselves with the No To Homophobia1 campaign, as announced2 in this week’s Australian Jewish News.

The No To Homophobia campaign aims to challenge all forms of harassment and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people.  With the JCCV signing up for these values it paves the way for greater acceptance and inclusion of GLBTIQ people in the Jewish community and will work to reduce the extreme marginalisation and intolerance that GLBTIQ people face at the Orthodox end of the religious spectrum.

As the only organisation representing the combined interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Melbourne’s Jewish community, Aleph Melbourne all too frequently sees the effects of intolerance of sexual orientation and gender identity, especially when it emanates from within the Jewish community.

A recent example of homophobia in the Victorian Jewish community is when Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen3 called for the defunding of the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria program and published his beliefs that homosexual people should undergo sexual reorientation therapy to make them heterosexual.

Another example of homophobia in the Victorian Jewish community is the Rabbinical Council of Victoria writing a submission4 to the Australian Senate opposing changes to the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to obtain civil marriages.

Aleph Melbourne co-convenor Michael Barnett asks of JCCV President Nina Bassat “Signing up to the No To Homophobia campaign is definitely a step in the right direction, but how is the JCCV going to counter homophobic attitudes from the intolerant sections of the Jewish community, especially when it comes to equal recognition of our relationships under Civil law and other forms of legalised intolerance such as that where Jewish organisations are allowed to discriminate against LGBTI people, especially when they are Jewish.  It’s simply not enough for the JCCV just to ask their membership to also sign up.  That is not affirmative action.”

Barnett states “The JCCV must show that joining No To Homophobia is a sincere attitude change and not just window-dressing.  The lives of vulnerable same-sex attracted and gender diverse youth are at stake here and there is no room for hollow platitudes.”

Aleph Melbourne looks forward to the seeing the JCCV bring along its constituents in this new chapter and the accompanying benefits to the community that this entails, in particular building stronger and more inclusive families and reducing the rate of youth suicide, self-harm and mental health issues.

Aleph Melbourne also looks forward to the JCCV taking proactive initiatives to counter homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in all Jewish schools by recommending they all join the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria5.  There is also ample scope for the JCCV to work with Jewish sporting organisations to reduce homophobic intolerance and promote positive role models in those spaces.

Contact Michael Barnett on 0417-595-541 for further comment.

ENDS

  1. http://www.notohomophobia.com.au
  2. http://aleph.org.au/2013/03/28/jccv-says-no-to-homophobia-ajn
  3. http://mikeybear.com.au/2012/02/15/history-making-statement-issued-by-australias-jewish-peak-body-against-respected-orthodox-rabbi
  4. http://bit.ly/jewishsenatesubmissions
  5. http://safeschoolscoalitionvictoria.org.au

JCCV says no to homophobia | AJN

See also:
Media Release: JCCV tackles homophobia but must prove it is serious
No To Homophobia

Friday, March 29, 2013
The Australian  Jewish News
Page 7

JCCV says no to homophobia

PHOEBE ROTH

THE Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) will join the “No to Homophobia” campaign and is asking its affiliate organisations to sign up too.

The “No to Homophobia” initiative aims to challenge all forms of harassment and discrimination faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) people.

The campaign aims to reduce the incidence of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic harassment in Victoria – and beyond – by empowering people who identify as GLBTIQ as well as the broader community to respond and speak out against this harassment.

According to JCCV president Nina Bassat, the campaign promotes respect between people and healthy relationships, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identification.

Bassat acknowledged the emotional turmoil members of the GLBTIQ community can face, whether it be at school, in the workplace or in the wider community.

“No-one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity;’ she said. “The mental wellbeing issues in relation to bullying, depression and lack of self-esteem can be catastrophic.’

By Jewish organisations joining the campaign, the JCCV not only anticipates a greater level of understanding and awareness within the Jewish community, but also an education with respect to what constitutes homophobic, biphobic and transphobic harassment. For instance, phrases such as “That’s so gay’.

Sally Goldner, a spokesperson for Transgender Victoria and a member of the JCCV’s GLBTIQ reference group, said as a transgender person she has been received fairly well by the Jewish community, and feels this move can only make people more tolerant.
“This is an amazing step forward that pushes diversity higher. It’s sensational,’ she told The AJN.

The JCCV will officially request that its affiliates become part of this campaign at their next plenum meeting in May.