What does the research tell us about same sex attracted young people and what can we do to make a di

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What does the research tell us about same sex
attracted young people and what can we do to make
a difference?

• Lynne Hillier

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Baseline percentages of SSA young people in
Australia

• 11 1200 rural young people
• (Hillier et al., 1996)
• 8-9 3,500 senior high school students,
• (Lindsay et al., 1997)
• 7 2500 senior high school students,
• (Smith et al., 2003)
• 14 in two studies of homeless young people,
• (Hillier et al., 1997 Rossiter et al. 2003)

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The Writing Themselves In reports 1998 2005
850 young people
1749 young people
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Positive changes since 1998

• In comparison with 1998, same sex attracted
  students
• Are more likely to have disclosed
• More likely to have received support
• feel safer in school
• receive slightly more relevant sex education
• Feel better about their sexuality

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Information about safe sex
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Information about safe sex
Most SSAY are denied appropriate and relevant sex
education from the usual trusted sources such as
school and family.
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80 said that sex education was useless to
them 14 has been diagnosed with an STI (cf 4
from the national high school study, Smith et
al, 2003) 10 of the 15-18 year old school
attending young women had been pregnant (cf 8
from the national high school study, (Smith et
al, 2003)
Sex education
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How do people treat you?
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Have you been treated unfairly on the basis of
your sexuality?

• 38 Yes (29 in 1998)
•  
• It happens every day, its the way people look at
  you when they find out its the way people
  ignore you, shun you, make you feel little,
  different and inferior. Its the way work
  administers the roster and the way the school
  fails to curb bullying. (Joey 18 years)
• I wasnt allowed to play rugby because all of the
  guys on the rugby team said they wouldnt play if
  I played so if I didnt budge then there
  wouldnt have been a school rugby team (Kory 16
  years).

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Has anyone ever been verbally abusive towards you
because of your sexuality?

• 44 yes (46 1998)
• You should get AIDS, you people make me sick etc.
  (Reid 21 years)
•  
• Usual names such as dyke, butch bitch etc. and
  sometimes comments/ogling from guys in terms of
  needing a good root, need to be raped straight,
  need some dick etc. (Rena 21 years).

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Has anyone ever been physically abusive towards
you because of your sexuality?

• 16 yes (13 in 1998)
• My father and stepmother believed that I
  wouldnt be gay if they knocked it out of me,
  quite literally used to slam my head against the
  wall, gave me a headache, but Im still gay.
  (Miriam, 19 years)
• My boyfriend and I were punched at a local
  beach. A group of about 7 guys in their early 20s
  were around and two of them laid into me and my
  boyI was hospitalised and lucky not to have a
  broken jaw. My boy has had back pains ever since.
  (Vance, 17 years)

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Where the abuse took place
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74 of those abused experienced abuse at school

• School - Daily bashing, taste testing of the
  urinals or making sure peoples shit was the
  right color. (Kevin 17 years)
• In PE class the guys would try to give me the
  ball so they could tackle me. (Troy 20years)
• I was cornered in the school toilets and three
  guys took turns punching the shit out of me.
  (Tristan18 years)

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Impact of homophobic abuse
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Impacts of the abuse feeling safe
Young people who had been verbally abused were
more likely to feel unsafe than those who had not
been abused. Young people who had been physically
abused were least likely to feel safe.

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Impacts of homophobic abuse self harm
35 had self harmed Young people who had been
abused were significantly more likely to self
harm.
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Impacts of homophobia self-harm

• when so many people tell you how disgusting you
  are, you start to feel disgusting and at many
  times in my life, I know I have wanted to turn my
  back on the person looking back at me in the
  mirror. when it got particularly bad I used to
  scratch patterns in my face until it bled out of
  disgust for myself. (Aiden 19 years)
• I tried to kill myself because i was so badly
  teased at school for being a lesbian.. it never
  ended and i got severe depression and i saw no
  other way to be happy, i was in hospital for 2
  months trying to control my depression and
  because doctors thought i would hurt myself again
  if they let me out and it also forced me to drop
  out of school. (Claudia 16 years)

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Impacts of homophobia drug use
Young people were most likely to use drugs if
they had been physically abused and least likely
if they had not been abused.
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• How is homophobia different from other forms of
  bullying?
• Can we expect that it will be dealt with
  adequately in the general school bullying policy?

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Some ways homophobic bullying is different

• 1. Historical backing through the church,
  psychiatry, psychology and the law.
• 2. It is harder for teachers to challenge
  homophobic abuse because of fear of reprisal.
• 3. It is more difficult for young people to
  access help.
• 4. The damage is likely to be greater.

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Why homophobia is different

• 1. Historically there has been broad
  institutional backing for homophobic beliefs
  through the church, psychiatry, psychology and
  the law. Despite many of the institutions later
  reneging on those beliefs, they remain pervasive
  today and are behind homophobic bullying at
  school and in the community.

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Why homophobia is different

• 2. It is harder for those working with young
  people to challenge homophobic abuse than other
  bullying, such as that based on race or gender.
  This is because teachers and others are fearful
  of a backlash from parents and the community.
  They are fearful of losing their jobs or of being
  accused of encouraging that lifestyle or of being
  homosexual themselves. Young people often
  complain that the abuse is ignored.

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Why homophobia is different

• 3. It is more difficult for young people to
  access help. To get help young people have to
  disclose their sexuality. This is often too great
  a risk to take and so they bear the abuse in
  silence with no support. This is when they are
  most at risk of self-harm and suicide.

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Why homophobia is different

• 4. The alienation from homophobic bullying is
  likely to be more absolute. It is enacted
  systematically against a person on the basis of
  suspected membership of a group, however, unlike
  members of other minority groups who often share
  their minority status with their families and are
  therefore supported by them, parents of same sex
  attracted young people are in most cases
  heterosexual and expect their children to be
  heterosexual as well.

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What can we do with these research findings?

• 1. Policy, curricula, community education
  schools need leadership direction and so do
  teachers
• 2. Supporting young people
• Groups
• Websites
• Events
• 3. Young people outsmarting homophobia themselves

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Premier and cabinet social policy for Victoria
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Sense and sexuality Conference July, 2006

• Conference to look at best practice in SSAY
  issues and to launch DET policy to go to all
  schools

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www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/wellbeing/safeschools/bullyi
ng/index.htm
New safety policy for all government school in
Victoria, 2006
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What can we do with these research findings?

• 1. Policy, curricula, community education
• 2. Supporting young people
• Social support groups
• Websites
• Events
• 3. Young people can outsmart homophobia themselves

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How do you feel about being attracted to the same
sex?

• 1998 2005
• Great/Pretty good 60 76
• OK 30 19.3
• Pretty bad/Really bad 10 4.7

Please tell us more about your answer.
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Connection between feeling bad and self harm

• In comparison with those who felt good or
  great about their sexuality
• Young people who felt OK were 1.5 times more
  likely to self-harm
• Young people who felt bad or really bad were
  3 times more likely to self-harm

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How do you feel about your sexual feelings?

• Young people who felt bad used homophobic
  beliefs to explain why they felt bad.
• Young people who felt pretty good or great
  explained their feelings with reframed positive
  beliefs.

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How homophobia hurts and outsmarts young people
(Foucault, 1978)

• 1. It divides them off from their friends and
  community
• Just people calling me names and saying I was
  gross and a freak and calling me gay or dyke. And
  people have drawn or wrote sic things on pieces
  of paper and left them in my locker. And theres
  things written on toilet walls and rumors about
  me (Paula 14 years)

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How homophobia hurts and outsmarts young people
(Foucault, 1978)

• 2. It can create division within themselves
• I first thought I might be gay when I was in year
  11 and I was very distressed about possibly being
  a freak. (Paul 21 years)
• I would pray to God every night that he would
  cure me of this disease. (Myles 15 years)

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Homophobia outsmarts young people if they
wear the negative beliefs

• When people around me talk about how disgusting
  gay people are I do think I must be disgusting
  (Sara 21 years)
• I got a rude shock in my catholic high school
  when the teacher was talking about 'pooftas' one
  day and when I finally read the section in our
  bibles about homosexuality...after that I went
  hard core Christian and hated myself for a good
  few years. Spencer 20 years

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Young people outsmart homophobia if they refuse
to wear negative beliefs

• I am a proud, mentally healthy, strong young
  lesbian. Not confused, not disgusting, not going
  through a phase, not the result of a domineering
  mother. (Abbey 20 years)
• I see no sin in loving the same sex it is
  abeautiful thing. (Lara 16 years)

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The main negative belief areas in WTIA

• Homosexuality is
• A sin
• A mental illness
• Unnatural
• A phase in young people
• The path to a lonely miserable life

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Contents of the POSH booklet

• Introduction and metaphor of clothing
• Five sections, each based on a knowledge
  statement or belief
• How it affects young people
• Where this belief comes from
• How young people outsmart the belief
• Useful links
• General organisations and resources by state

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• The POSH booklet aims to spread positive beliefs
  and assumptions about same sex attraction so
  young people have healthier choices when they are
  working out what to believe about themselves.

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More about the outsmarting homophobia
projectatwww.latrobe.edu.au/ssay
This booklet was launched in Melbourne on May
29th 07by Bernie Geary Commissioner for
Child Safety.
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• Dr Lynne Hillier
• Senior Research Fellow
• Vic Health Public Health Fellow
• p. 92855360
• f. 92855220
• e. l.hillier_at_latrobe.edu.au
• www.latrobe.edu.au/ssay/