Change at the grass roots level what is it and how do we make it happen The case of same sex attract

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Change at the grass roots level what is it and
how do we make it happen? The case of same sex
attracted young people in Victoria

• Lynne Hillier Anne Mitchell

Thats so gay Conference, April 16th 2008
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Our understanding of social change

• Social change is a messy beast while it is
  happening - with hindsight it looks tidier.
• Social change involves struggle, fear,
  transgression and retribution.
• It is difficult to see where it starts and ends.
• It is difficult to attribute cause and effect.
• It is difficult to produce a grand plan or map.
• BUT some markers or moments become obvious in
  hindsight.

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Discourse and social change

• A focus on language and meaning.
• There is no one truth but many truths about the
  same subject.
• A focus on the struggle to name the truth.
• Truths are more convincing when they are backed
  by powerful institutions (church, university,
  legal system)
• What seems like absolute truth or commonsense
  is merely a truth that has more people
  (organisations) following and reproducing it.
• Power ebbs and flows in discourse resistance is
  available to everyone.
• Contradictory discourse always exists but fewer
  people are aware of it (the margins).

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• Discourses are tactical elements or blocks
  operating in the field of force relations there
  can exist different and even contradictory
  discourses within the same strategy they can, on
  the contrary, circulate without changing their
  form from one strategy to another opposing
  strategy. (p99 Foucault in Fairclough)

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Discourse and Social change

• Change comes about through conflict,
  contradictions and dilemmas. People are faced
  with these and they
• try to resolve these dilemmas by being
  innovative and creative, by adapting existing
  conventions in new ways and so contributing to
  social change (Fairclough p 96)
• Such contradictions, dilemmas and subjective
  apprehension of problems in concrete situations
  have their social conditions in structural
  contradictions and struggle at institutional and
  societal levels. (Fairclough p 97)

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• Change involves forms of transgression, crossing
  boundaries, such as putting together existing
  conventions in new combinations, or drawing on
  conventions in situations which usually preclude
  them (Fairclough, p96)

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Dilemma One

• Truths have to be strong and convincing. We
  didnt have a strong truth to tell
• no reliable statistics on numbers
• data from small anecdotal studies
• language, labels were a problem

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Solution One

• Using the term same sex attracted
• Doesnt carry the stigma of gay or lesbian
• Doesnt describe an identity
• Doesnt foreclose on young people
• Maximise on our research population

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Which of the following statements best describes
your sexual feelings?

• ? I am attracted only to the opposite sex
• ? I am attracted to both sexes
• ? I am attracted only to the same sex
• ? I am unsure

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Baseline percentages of SSA young people in
Australia

• 11 1200 rural young people
• (Hillier et al., 1996)
• 8-9 2nd national high school study, 3500 senior
  students
• (Lindsay et al., 1997)
• 14 in two studies of homeless young people,
• (Hillier et al., 1997 Rossiter et al. 2003)

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Dilemma two

• How to get funding for a national study with
  same sex attracted youth - we needed their
  stories (their truths).

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Solution two
Funding for HIV was available in large
research programs. This group could
legitimately be included Young people were
mentioned as potential conduits into the
heterosexual community SSAY could legitimately
be included in this program without a separate
submission
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Prices to pay

• Had to be linked to a disease
• Identify these young people as potential vectors
• What about the girls?

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Many dilemmas in planning WTI

• The promoting a certain lifestyle issue -
  referrals restricted to kidshelpline
• Degree to which what we were doing could be
  publicised
• Concern about loss of funding
• Do no harm - recruitment strategy when
  invisibility was vital for their safety

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Poster project had its funding recalled
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Writing Themselves In methodology

• Advertising program
• National Magazines
• Gay press
• Radio
• Word of mouth
• Quant survey with open ended items, including
  young peoples stories
• Filled out in hard copy or on the web
• Multiple options for involvement

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The findings(Writing Themselves In Hillier et al
1998)

• 750 SSA young people
• 18 had spoken to no-one
• gt9/10 deprived of information
• 1/3 suffered discrimination
• gt1/2 suffered verbal and physical abuse
• Most of the abuse was school-based
• More likely to abuse drugs
• Struggling to position themselves in positive
  ways
• Depression and suicide

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Dilemma Three

• How to frame the story so that it gets traction

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ARCSHS and research retailing

• Consultation with communities before the research
  design is finalised
• Asking the right questions to ensure that
  research meets community needs
• Dissemination on a number of fronts.
• Locating and using supporters
• Research participants must gain benefit from the
  way the research findings are used

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Solution Three

• Move it from the moral arena to the safety and
  rights arenas.
• Homophobia is a public health issue

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Marketing Writing Themselves In

• Consciously directed at creating and supporting
  change
• Focus on safety of these young people especially
  at schools
• Launch of report and call to action to the
  community
• Press release

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Media Response
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Government Response
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Spreading this truth

• Individual workers and teachers in the field were
  prepared to take the research and use it as an
  advocacy tool
• Teachers unions distributed and re-printed
  posters an opportunity to test the waters
• Vic Health small grants in rural areas
• Public Health research award (DHS endorsement by
  default)

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(No Transcript)
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Longer term impact
Research provides the rationale for Social
support groups Commonwealth Youth Suicide
Prevention projects Safety in our schools,
North East Community project DHS, Vic. mental
health community development projects Wayout,
Gay Lesbian project in the East, Dont Ask
Dont Tell
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Classroom resources under the radar
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School resources under the radar
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Supporting Schools to change
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(No Transcript)
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Broader cultural influences

• Program of legal reform in Victoria
• MACGLH
• AGMAC
• Increased visibility of non-heterosexual public
  figures
• Positive gay visibility in media

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Writing Themselves In Again

• Data outdated
• We needed current data to base future strategies
  on
• We needed to know whether all the work had
  achieved change for young people

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No longer walking on egg shells

• YGLAM available to do the photo shoots
• Dolly and tripleJ
• Australia-wide SSAY networks now in place to
  advertise in and recruit
• Rise of Internet access for advertising
• Able to be public - fanfare
• Referrals on website beyond kidshelpline
• The creation of a willing and eager audience for
  outcomes
• Huge celebratory launch

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Main findings of WTIA (2005)

• 95 had disclosed to someone 75 given support
• Young people felt safer in most places
• 74 felt good or great about their sexual
  feelings
• No decrease in verbal physical abuse (44,
  16)
• School the most dangerous place for SSAY (74)
• Significant links between abuse and self-harm
• lt1 in 5 getting safe sex info from school or
  family
• 80 felt sex education at school was useless
• 10 of 15-18 year old women had been pregnant
• 14 had been diagnosed with an STI

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

• 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)
• 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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Dilemma Four

• Homophobia in schools continues at least the
  rates of 1998.
• Pregnancy and STIs are still much higher than for
  heterosexual kids.

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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 felt
less safe than those who had not been
abused. Young people who had been physically
abused felt less safe everywhere than the other
groups.

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Impacts of homophobic abuse 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 peoples drug use was likely to be highest
if they had been physically abused and lowest if
they had not been abused.
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Solution Four

• Education departments in each state need to show
  leadership by telling schools what they expect of
  them.
• Homophobia is different from other forms of
  bullying and needs to be named

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Government response second time around

• Pre-launch briefings accepted by,
• Office of youth (May 2006)
• Department of Education Training (May 2006)
• Equal Opportunity Commission (May 2006)
• Government departments then planned positive
  responses to media publicity

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Government response second time around

• Whole of government round table (DHS, DEEC, EOC,
  OoY) opened by Jacinta Allen (July 2006)
• Recommendations from round table informed future
  policy responses

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Recommendations that all local councils, NGOs and
youth services provide support groups for young
people. That DEEC provide leadership to schools
to address homophobia. That all student welfare
co-ordinators be trained to support SSAY
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Premier and cabinet social policy for Victoria
Same sex attracted young people mentioned as a
target group
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Policy and practice change in DEEC
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• Sub-committee of the MACGLH set up to implement
  changes within DEEC and chaired by a senior
  education bureaucrat

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Victorian Essential learning Standards, Dec 2005

• Visibility of same sex attraction and homophobia
  in the revised VELS Dec 2005
• investigate and evaluate the policies and
  practices in their school in relations to sexual
  and racial harassment, homophobia and or
  discrimination and consider their rights and
  responsibilities (HPE learning focus level 6)
• explore a range of issues related to sexuality
  and sexual health such as safe sex practices,
  sexual negotiation, same sex attraction and the
  impact of alcohol on sexual and personal safety
  (HPE learning focus level 6)

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Sense and sexuality Conference July, 2006

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

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New safety policy for all government school in
Victoria, 2006
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(No Transcript)
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Other arenas of concern

• Religion
• Sport
• We are still a way off schools actively
  celebrating the sexual diversity of their students

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Our final dilemma

• We still hear stories about homophobia in schools
• We are far from having inclusive safe sex
  education for all students
• We have no funds for the next WTI in for 2010,
  but we plan to do it anyway.

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www.latrobe.edu.au/ssay
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• Lynne Hillier
• Senior Research Fellow
• Vic Health Fellow
• p. 92855360
• f. 92855220
• e. l.hillier_at_latrobe.edu.au
• www.latrobe.edu.au/ssay/