81% of LGTBI students have received some type of negative comment or ridicule for belonging to the group, according to a survey
A survey conducted by the researcher Ramil Star concludes that the Galician institutes They are not safe spaces for LGTBI students. He 81% of the students in this group declared that they have suffered some type of aggression, mainly insults and jokes in which classmates have participated, but also teachers in some cases.
The study is based on the responses of 503 students from seven centers of secondary education and those of 74 teachers from 29 centers in a survey through Internet. Information from three focus groups in which 14 members of the company participated was also incorporated. LGTBIQ+ Educational Support Network of Galicia, the Association of Families of Trans Minors (Arelas) and Avante LGTBI+ Galiza.
With the data from the study, the ONGD Galician Association of Communication for Social Change (Agareso) denounces that people LGTBI They do not find a safe space in secondary schools. The author assures that there is more and more visibility, but she calls for awareness that students “continues to face multiple situations of LGTBIphobia or LGTBI bullying".
Privileges
He emphasizes that rejection and participation in attacks is “especially worrying"in heterosexual cisgender men, which is why it calls for urgently addressing the work"about hegemonic masculinities, privileges and the responsibility of young people in the face of inequalities".
According to the survey, 23% of the teachers and 28% of the students are part of the group. Of the participants, 4,58% of the students indicated that they are trans, 19% stated that they had a non-normative sexual orientation and 9% said they were in the process of defining themselves.
More than half keep their sexual orientation a secret
Reality does not translate into visibility, says the study, which points out that the 54% They keep their sexual orientation a secret. Only 36% say they feel free to express themselves about sexual identity or orientation. The fundamental reasons are, according to Estrella Ramil, the fear of threats, different treatment or harassment.
69% of the teachers who responded to the questions stated that they have witnessed some type of aggression against someone from the LGTBI community and the 17% of the students cishetero admitted having participated in an attack “in a joking context”. In addition to the most frequent jokes and insults, students and teachers indicate that they have witnessed situations of isolation, which trans people have suffered especially. The majority of students say they accept these people, but one in three cishetero boys admit that they do not.
Student reactions
For Agareso, the figures on the reactions that students have when they witness attacks are “very worrying”. 46% say that they would defend their partner, but 30% say that they would not do anything, 19% that they would not know what to do and 5% that they would join the attack. Ramil emphasizes that this means that there are many spaces in which an LGTBI person would be “very vulnerable".
The study also shows what the NGO describes as prejudices and stereotypes: people tranny They are more often perceived as sick or unhappy, while bisexual women are more often seen as promiscuous and homosexual women as capricious and selfish. Regarding social changes, 16% of the participating students stated that the advances in LGTBIQ+ matters are negative and 18% said that the strengthening of the feminist movement is negative.
Social Media
When receiving discriminatory content on social networks - only one in four students says that it does not reach them - 26% say they do nothing about it; 28% indicate that they laugh conspiratorially, but do not forward; 17% do share it in turn; and 13% take an active role against this content, either by making comments, or by reporting it on the social network itself or to family members or teachers. Ramil concludes that they are people LGTBI those who react the most because they are more aware of discrimination and ask to confront “the growing wave of ultraconservative forces that threaten the achievements achieved".
