Indigo Spirit of Awareness Society

Indigo Spirit Of Awareness Society

Survey Results

In January 2006 Indigo Spirit of Awareness Society received a grant from Crime Prevention Canada to conduct a needs assessment on the safety of gay and lesbian youth in the Central Okanagan.

The survey was developed and tested with input from community agencies. The survey was placed online on May 15, 2006 at www.indigo-spirit.ca. A community forum was held on May 15, 2006 at Kelowna Regional Library launch the survey. It was advertised in the media, on TV, on the radio, in the newspapers and through community networks. The survey was offered online for two months.

Based on the results obtained the survey revealed that it is not safe for students to be gay in our community.

The survey results came not just from the gay community, but also from the straight community. 42 % of the respondents defined themselves as heterosexual and 57.5% of the respondents were from the gay community. 60 % of the response came from young people themselves. While that rate of participation is low, it may reflect that it takes time for people to self-identify as GLBT and in turn, reflect on their experience. Also, despite attempts to get the survey into the schools and promote the survey directly to youth, the school board refused those requests. As a result, traditional media may not have captured the attention of the audience we wished to reach.

The survey showed that homophobic comments top the list (59%) of taunts students and others hear in the schools. That was ahead of sexist comments, racist comments and anti-religious comments.
91.8% have heard adults make anti-gay comments.
56.5% have heard teachers make anti-gay comments.
85 % respondents heard derogatory comments, such as, "that's so gay", "fag", "homo", "dyke", or "lesbo" while they attended school.
If students hear these comments on a regular basis, how can any gay or questioning youth feel safe?

87.1 % of respondents said that it bothered them when they hear someone use anti-gay comments but were afraid to speak out for the following reasons:
"I feel it would out me."
"People will think I am gay."
"In public I don't have the power to intervene."
"I feel uncomfortable pointing it out."
"I don't want my children in an abusive situation."
"I am afraid the attack will turn against me."
"I want to but I don't know what to say."
The survey only heightened the concern the organization has about students struggling in silence. 19.7% of respondents revealed they knew someone who committed suicide because they were gay; 37.1% know someone who has attempted suicide because they are gay; and 51.6% know someone who has thought of committing suicide because they are gay.
42% have been verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation; 23% have been physically harassed because of their sexual orientation; and 13% have been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation.

School is not a safe environment for staff or students to be openly gay. 74.1% said school was not a safe environment for teachers and staff to be openly gay; 86.9% said it was unsafe for males to be openly gay; and 66.7% said it was unsafe for females to be openly gay.

School is also not a safe place for straight people to be openly supportive of gay/lesbian/bisexual people. 46.6% stated this was unsafe.

41% of students had missed a day or more of school because they felt unsafe at school or on the way to and from school.

42% of respondents have never seen school staff intervene when gay harassment takes place and 52% have rarely seen school staff intervene.

50.8% said that they did not have access to LGBTQ resources in their community; and 70% stated that they did not have access to gay youth resources in their school or community.

The following are the gay related resources mentioned in the survey:
UBCO - Pride Centre
Okanagan College - new group forming
Internet, Youthglo.com
Limited selection of books in Library & Bookstores
Okanagan Rainbow Coalition
NOGLO and SOGALA
Kelowna Women's Resource Centre
Some School Counsellors

People have trouble accessing these limited resources for the following reasons;
Fear, stigma, safety
Being gay is a taboo topic.
Risk being seen

Further problems, barriers and gaps that were reported are:
Resources don't exist
There are limited resources
No events for gay youth in the community
No Gay Straight Alliances as of November 2006
92 % of respondents say things need to change to help Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning (LGBTQ) students to feel safer.

The following are the suggestions for change reported in the survey:
Open discussion of LGBTQ issues in the schools and the community
Counselling and support groups for parents and gay youth
"Out" role models
Kids taught more about sexuality
Public Gay Resource Centre
Presentation from older gay people
Easily accessible pathways to report incidents of harassment
Celebrating Gay Pride and Diversity
On January 29, 2007 another Community Forum was held at the Kelowna Regional Library. About 20 people attended ranging in age from 13 to over 60 years. The above results of the gay youth survey were presented and discussed.

This group made the following additional suggestions for change:
Deliver presentation to the school board
Deliver presentation to Interior Health
Start gay/straight alliances in School District 23
Make presentation to Kelowna City Council
This report shows why we need to start talking about these issues in our community. We owe it to our children to make sure they are safe and receive the support that they need.