by Kevin Hague
The elimination of prejudice and discrimination is important not only for the creation of a fair society that celebrates difference and diversity, but also because our nation will be stronger if it uses all the talents and strengths available to it. We collectively lose if opportunities are effectively denied to some.
So in addition to the compassion that I am sure we all feel at the news that a third of same/both-sex attracted secondary students have seriously considered suicide and a half have deliberately harmed themselves in the past 12 months, we should also recognise that this represents a grievous waste of potential, which harms us all.
It is well-established that, with few exceptions, the health status of a population group is a function of its marginalisation in a society. That is why laws that discriminate and social environments that allow prejudice to persist are not only justice problems, but of fundamental concern in health.
It is no surprise to read that this group of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people are at increased risk of all sorts of health problems, including the risk of HIV infection.
Put yourself in the position of a young person coming to the understanding that she or he is not heterosexual. Very likely virtually every aspect of your social conditioning (family, friends, media, culture, church, school etc) has created an expectation for you and everyone else of heterosexuality. Occasionally you might be lucky enough to be aware of non-heterosexual adults who seem to have happy and productive lives, but these people are quite likely to seem pretty remote from you and more likely you will know of nobody else. You feel like the only one, you feel as if your very existence lets down everyone around you and you feel alone. To make things worse, you are surrounded by routine homophobia equating being gay with everything that is pathetic or disgusting. You’d feel pretty bad, right? I remember.
As adults we have both the opportunity and absolute responsibility to put that right. This latest research is about schools. Over the years there have been a number of excellent guidelines and resources developed for schools to help them do this better. Some have been excellent. But many schools have done nothing at all. It isn’t good enough, and we need to be working to ensure that there is a requirement, which is monitored and policed, for schools to take actions to actively support gay, lesbian and bisexual young people and to keep them safe.
Published in Featured | Health & Wellbeing by Kevin Hague on Tue, October 20th, 2009
Tags: Kevin Hague
More posts by Kevin Hague | more about Kevin Hague
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
...
Kevin it is not just gay people that have to deal with these attitudes, people can be cruel regardless of the truth of a situation.
Most homophobic abuse is actually experienced by heterosexual kids, I hated school because of this and myself and several of my friends were done a lot of harm simply by attending secondary school.
I don’t think I have ever since experienced the shear nastiness of human nature than I did at high school.
I really don’t think you should make a big deal over gay kids at school Kevin, any targeted intervention would likely only draw more negative attention to them. I think all kids need to be involved and to somehow address the situation as a community, a “we’re all in the same boat” kind of thing.
Like or Dislike:
5 
5 (0)
Programmes to support gay kids can draw attention to them, but they don’t have to; and even where they do, even if some of that attention is negative, it’s offset by the positive support the kids get.
Also, when we put programmes in place to reduce homophobic abuse against gay kids, it also reduces homophobic abuse against heterosexual kids – and sets up a culture that reduces other kinds of abuse too – so everyone wins.
Like or Dislike:
7 
3 (+4)
And they do not need to be explicit programs. Proper programs to deal with bullying are mainly what is required. That and dealing with the casual homophobia (homo-prejudice would be a better word. It is not a phobia but prejudice and bigotry, but I split hairs) the homophobia of the staff. Not allowing students to bring same sex partners to the school ball unless they “come out” is an example.. Who the frac cares?
School uniforms are another area. By all means have some variety but if a boy wishes to wear the kilt and blouse who cares? (Of curse male cross dresses are often not gay).
I agree with Shunda barunda that school is hell for many kids. It was hell for me, and hell for two of my children two decades later. I see what Shunda means by not drawing more attention to gay kids. I am more worried that we should not require pubescent people to make that deceleration. Let them be who the want to be and have a supportive environment for them to sort it out in. If they want to bring a same sex partner to the school ball does not make them gay, any more than bringing a n opposite sex partner to a ball means they are not gay. It is just who they came to the ball with. Get over it!
Proper anti-bullying programs. Recognition that often it is the staff who are the worst bullies (in one of my children’s cases all the way to the principle and the board!). Not questioning people’s identity and making them select one when they are children. Applying the principles of love, acceptance and forgiveness. I am such a dreamer!
In our society we make it hell to be a teenager. Male role models are bullet proof and sluts. Female role models can do everything, all at once, and are thin and rich. There is no role for a teenager. No longer a child not yet an adult. Do not make them fit into our categories of gay/straight/bi, they will have enough trouble without being thrust into arbitrary categories by grown-ups who should know better.
peace
W
Like or Dislike:
4 
2 (+2)
Curiously we don’t seem to have the same indignation over targeting users (even occasional ones) of ‘cannabis’ and the prejudice/harms these bullying laws create.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Blair Anderson
I do. The issues about oppression of people of non-mainstream sexual orientations is analogous to oppression of people with non-mainstream drug habits.
People say that “using cannabis is a life style choice, being gay is not”. I agree. But celibacy is a life style choice. In the bad old days (separate from the bad today!-) it was not being gay that was illegal, it was expressing it. Making the life style choice to express your sexuality.
The exact same argument can be run for cannabis (psychedelic drugs in general) users.
Thank you for pointing out that hypocrisy.
blissfully
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
bliss – cannabis is a non-mainstream drug habit?
How do the numbers of tobacco smokers stack up against those of cannabis smokers I wonder?
Like or Dislike:
3 
1 (+2)
Well, there are a lot more Tobacco ADDICTS than there are Cannabis addicts.
BJ
Like or Dislike:
2 
1 (+1)
(Perhaps that’s the pay-off they’re selling their souls for!)
Nga motu auahi kore enei!
Like or Dislike:
4 
1 (+3)
Homophobia “an” enemy of a free society.
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
Fair comment SPC! I was angry. Perhaps a lesson – never blog when enraged
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
No Kevin, blogs can be quite therapeutic when you are angry, trust me
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)
nothing gives a liscence to bully and discriminate like NZ’s cannabis laws. institutionised hypocrisy and hatred. the nats are ramping it up – and its not just the users, Blair – i feel really sorry for all the home growers -hobbiests avoiding the black market who are being narked-up and jailed as dealers…Well done greens for completely dropping the ball. Long forgotten what got you elected en masse in 1999?
Like or Dislike:
3 
2 (+1)
Okay, I may be making the same mistake again: debate around persecution of cannabis users and growers seems to me to be more appropriate to another thread (perhaps General Debate?) My original post was in the hope of stimulating some discussion about what we might collectively do to protect and foster gay, lesbian and bisexual young people, a significant proportion of whom end up dead, according to both the research and my personal experience of work in this area.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Kevin – hets get a worse deal – we all end up dead!
But I joke. I entirely support your efforts to protect and foster.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1 (+1)
I dont deny the validity of your concerns for fostering tolerance, kevin and i sympathise with young-gays and the pressure they face. just pointing out that cannabis law undermines all such attempts to foster mutual respect. Gays are protected by law, but cannabis people are persecuted by law. it is unwarrented hate policy, has become a justice system money spinner (ie corrupt) and we’re being treated like shit in this community – particularly the ones who get caught really suffer. As for ‘cannabis in another thread’. WEll that wont happen Kevin, because the Greens are too chicken to mention cannabis despite it being a core social justice policy of the party. cheers
Like or Dislike:
2 
0 (+2)
can anyone remember the last time Frog initiated a discussion about cannabis? eg in relation to nZ’s law and disorder problems (including proliferation of alienated gang culture)? I cant and its not because my memory is impaired. there was something about med pot and Metirias failed bill a while ago (great) but the big picture is that marijuana is as much a recreational as medicinal herb, extremely widespread and popular but hidden behind the cannabis curtain. Hypocrisy rules – prohibition is toxifing us all.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)
That’s funny weedeater. I seem to remember giving a speech about Metiria’s Bill on Medicinal Cannabis only a few months ago, and spending some months on the Health Select Committee arguing (successfully) for advances in this area. Admittedly that’s a limited dimension to your whole issue, but I really don’t think anyone is going to stop you posting about this aspect of green party policy on the General Debate thread.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
And it was good work Kevin. But Weedeater has a point. It is not about cannabis as a medicine but cannabis as a recreational drug.
I respect your attempts to stimulating some discussion about what we might collectively do to protect and foster gay, lesbian and bisexual young people, but Weedeaters point is young people who are attracted to psychedelic drugs (particularly cannabis) are treated worse than gay young people. And it is a very good point.
I do not know what more the Greens could be doing in the current political climate but it would be good to do something. Medicinal cannabis is good politics, but there are hundreds of thousands of recreational users who have been completely disenfranchised. Treated as idiots, arrested and excluded. It is *very* relevant to the debate that you wanted to foster. Because it is not what you expect does not make it irrelevant.
bliss
Like or Dislike:
3 
1 (+2)
Run both debates on this thread. We can handle it.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1 (+1)
“..can anyone remember the last time Frog initiated a discussion about cannabis?..”
answer:..never..
and i don’t even know if metiria has even realised this yet..
but her total failure to do anything to advance/publicise the medical marijuana bill/case..
when it was her responsibility to do this..
really damaged her..
(in many eyes..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
good just keep pushing it Kevin, id also like to see the green’s bill on ‘no penalty for personal use and cultivation’…or bid to have it put in Class D of the misuse of Drugs Act (restricted substance regulations – currently an empty classification) along with alcohol and tobacco… i only get a daily frog blog post and always check to see if theres ‘my issue’ there anywhere and it never is – conspicuous by its absence as they say…
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Weedeater
It comes up in various other threads because it is such a PERVASIVE problem of the society. Check the Tsunami of child poverty thread. Plenty of reference to the ills of criminalizing drug users. Just with reference to that one thing though.
Bliss has a point though. We’re up against it pretty hard right now. Greens haven’t dropped the issue completely… I don’t think we can. We do however, look for the things we CAN do.
National has to p!ss off its voters. It looks to be going to do that but it IS taking a while.
BJ
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
greenfly wrote:
“Kevin – hets get a worse deal – we all end up dead!”
Oh yeah? has this ever happened to you personally, Greenfly?
Or are you just using the unfortunate experiences of other people of your sexual orientation to claim special rights for yourself?
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
y’see..bj..
the pot-vote first got the greens into parliament..
and every promise made to that constituency..
has been broken…
frog never raised that issue here..(save to run metirias’ excuses..at the end..)
and metiria totally failed to even try to talk to the public about this..
and we are talking ‘medical-marijuana’..
a proven palliative for aids/cancer/diabetes sufferers..
(legal in many other countries..in california since 1996..)
and metiria could not sell that on ‘compassionate-grounds’..?
f.f.s..!
and of course we all know why no effort was made..
there are two reasons..
1)..metiria was already campaigning for the leadership..
and wanted no ‘tainting’ by the cannabis-issues..
(which raises a whole raft of questions..eh..?..)
2)..and the second reason is sheeted back to all the green m.p’s/leadership..
they made a collective/conscious decision to only pay lip-service ..
..and not campaign for law-change..
..for similar reasons as metiria in reason i)..
namely..not wanting ‘to cause offence’.. to the reactionarys..
another symptom of the lack of testicular-fortitude in the group-desire ..
‘to be all things to all people’..
and ending up .. as nothing much really..
this failure to keep their promises to those who got them there..
is a big stinking dead albatross..
hanging around the kneck of the greens in general..
and metiria turei in particular..
bj said::”..We do however, look for the things we CAN do..”
um..!..no you didn’t..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
3 (-3)
Phil
Yes I do. I took 4 hours off to launch a missile up the select committee’s collective. I have NOT got the time to beat the cr@p out of them on everything in parliament that I disagree with. Hell, I would be hard pressed to LIST the things I disagree with in less than a day.
I happen to think that you’re correct on this and that this issue could be raised without breaking things.
Half or more of the people in the country agree with us already, so it isn’t like we’re doing something that is going to actually affect their voting decisions. I pointed this out internally as well. We’re on what, 8% ? Close enough for this gedanken experiment. Of those almost all will be quite happy with medpot. Can’t imagine they’d vote for us otherwise. Of the 92 other percent no more than 58% could oppose medpot to get the overall 50% or better approval in the general population. (Sapient is sure to correct me but I’m not trying to be precise).
So we’d be playing TO 42% of the voters AT LEAST, people who would regard our failure to promote this as a negative.
…AND this neglects the fact that we’re already tarred with this. The population at large associates us with the issue whether we raise it or not.
So there’s no need to actually hold back… and plenty of data on which to move forward.
BJ
Like or Dislike:
2 
1 (+1)
Kahikatea – No, but I know a guy to whom it did (and he was dead straight!)
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Without getting into too much comlexity and detail then, we could be reasonably confident in concluding that somewhere in the region of 30-40 deaths occurred in this age group amongst young gay, lesbian or bisexual people, with a reasonable likelihood that the true figure is significantly more. More than 80% of these deaths could be attributed to factors associated with their sexual orientation. This toll is repeated each year.
This strikes me as a national tragedy. I hope you will forgive me if I express skepticism about the claim:
“young people who are attracted to psychedelic drugs (particularly cannabis) are treated worse than gay young people. And it is a very good point.”
And I did laugh at Greenfly’s joke!
Like or Dislike:
4 
1 (+3)
*sigh*
firmly grabbing the thread by the scruff of it’s neck and dragging it back on-topic:
Thanks, Kevin, for blogging on this, as I have spent the past couple of months being the ‘aunty’ on-campus who is checking up regularly on few very distressed young people, in the aftermath of a suicide here that has rocked their little worlds – she was a lovely, talented, beautiful, occasionally very difficult, non-judgemental, and very queer-friendly person, and everyone who knew her well was devastated.
I look at my own children and smile, bitter-sweetly, because so far, this is one pain I have not endured personally; but the risks of teenage miscommunication, and the fears that teenagers have about disclosing their anxieties to their parents, are ones I have faced; sometimes, I have managed the situations well, sometimes my children’s peers have been their primary resource, with me giving a nudge and a hint of what I suspect they ‘need-to-know’ right now.
Funnily enough, we talked about sexual orientation as well as drug use, and both of those topics got the “Oh, Mum, that isn’t relevant to me” response – maybe because I just expressed my opinion long before they had each individually come to any experiences that challenged their own opinions on these matters.
One day a child, the next day striving with all their might to be an independant adult.
And back again, the next day …
Today’s Dompost had an article about the ACC admission that they are funding support for victims of Suicide.
For the benefit of Rosemary McLeod, I’ll say this firmly and loudly:
The person who attempts (or succeeds) suicide is not the only victim – there may be a partner, children, parents who find that their grief is overwhelming, and needs professional support to bring out of an actual episode of psychosis. Grief counselling is a very needed proceedure, and those who access this should not be made to feel ashamed or belittled for their needs.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)
PS: – just read a copy of NORML, Spring issue that’s just out now – that’s one good article, Kev
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
“..Yes I do..”
i wasn’t talking about you..
i was responding to “..We do however, look for the things we CAN do..”
and as to the rest of your comment..
are you saying this to the green mp’s..?
aren’t they the ones you should be persuading..?
what is their response to these very logical arguments..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
2 (-2)
Good cause to Try for Kevin.
Discrimination in NZ is all philisophically linked and especially prevalent throughout so many of our Cultural Rituals.
It spreads like a poison – doesn’t take much to drop the whole Nation in a hole.
Just watch ‘em when the All Blacks lose.
Nice Day but.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
It is a silly game to play (that I played) to say this group is treated worse than that group. Silly me.
But I watch how the cannabis campaigners are treated here on campus. They are patronised and ridiculed. Yet they are courageous and principled.
It is no longer acceptable in the any of the circles I move to ridicule some one for being gay. But it is acceptable to ridicule them for using cannabis, or Gad forbid, LSD.
There was one member of staff who was reasonably open about being a pot smoker and he was fired.
But, come to think of it, we have no out gay staff that I know of (but how would I know?) so perhaps the gay staff are just as scared as the pot users.
As for suicide: I do not have the statistics but I think you will find the suicide rate among male under 20 pot users is much higher than the national average. But that is a guess.
The point is oppression sucks. Young people are oppressed just for being young, with out being a bit different – questioning their sexuality (by which I mean questioning the “default” settings of het.) or experimenting with drugs.
I am weary of encouraging children as they mature into adults to define themselves as anything. Gay/straight/whatever. It is a difficult time and we need to learn to accept and guide rather than instruct and punish.
Which is, isn’t it, what you Kevin are asking for? Acceptance with loving tolerance of our young people rather than moulding them with strict discipline to be how we think they should be.
peace
W
PS Which is still a criminal offence? Why are we not campaigning harder about that?
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)
bliss
I suspect that there is a difference between the experiences of people at high school and that at university – younger people struggling with their own (emerging self) identity issues and conforming to peer pressure (and exercising power over others) are more vulnerable to criticism and also more likely to receive it. Which is why schools should be safe places for all.
The problem with advocacy of medicinal use of marijuana for its legalisation is that opposition is premised on the wider ban being for the sake of public health. Until this perception that legalising marijuana would would cause a significant health problem is dismissed there is little progress to be made.
1. While THC causes an increased likelihood of a mental illness, given current rates of use while it is illegal, would legalisation make any difference.
2. The numbers with this mental illness are low and there are more common problems which are exacerbated to similar degrees by legal products (including foods).
3. Legalisation could occur in stages – for medicinal use and otherwise grown for personal use (limited amounts) or purchased via a ration card (as I advocated to a PSC back in 99).
4. Legalisation limits access of other drug suppliers to marijuana users.
PS. No I don’t grow, supply or use the product. (I also supported civil unions and the Prostitution Law Reform and no I am not in a civil union nor have I been a participant since the legalisation of “mutual” soliciting). I make this disclaimer because of the powers police have to mess with people suspected of possessing drugs (an excuse to target activists/dissidents/protestors for search and seizure fishing expeditions – though increasing security from terrorism powers will provide another “cause”).
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
The problem with pot smokers is the “oppression” is self inflicted.
If you are identifying yourself as a pot smoker as part of “who you are” you already have a problem.
Pot smoking is something people do not who they are. What those on the left don’t often realise is that discrimination is not actually always bad for society, it is often necessary to prevent destructive elements gaining too much influence.
Habitual substance abuse deserves to be discriminated against.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
“..Habitual substance abuse deserves to be discriminated against…”
i’ll look forward to pics of you picketing yr local bottle store..
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Shundra barunda
People are only identified as pot smokers, rather than as people who use “pot” because it is illegal. The same “identity” thing occured during US prohibition. Similarly “sexual” identity is predicated on having been discriminated against and campaigning for equality (this in a broader context includes feminists). Sometimes racial and or ethnic identity is also in the context of having been discriminated against in the past.
Frankly the issue is not so much about being born equal as a person who can then choose to act out that “equality”, but on being born with the right to make personal choices about who one loves/forms a relationship with and what one ingests/inhales/inbibes.
You support discrimination against pot smokers, that you realise that it is a discrimination is something. But support for discriminating against the personal choices of others is a serious violation of the freedom of faith principle. And that is a very slippery slope indeed.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
oh dear,someone is prejudiced. Just because a plant grows doesent mean you have to smoke it Shunda, and just because someone smokes cannabis does not meant they are abusing it.
Even a habit may be far less of a problem than an alcohol or tobacco habit, and quite possibly a creative constructive ‘utilisation of herb’. Most of weedeater’s 5 or 6000 environment cleanups in NZ have been cannabis powered and continue to be. Hemp is an extremely useful plant and NZ should be exploring its potential to the max, not bowing to Prejudice.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)