Talk of the Town

Talking About Gay Issues in Schools

Tue. Feb. 25, 7-9:30 pm

With: The film It's Elementary, Followed by Panel Discussion

A recent article in The Vancouver Courier carried the headline Gays Fighting Mad About Harassment and opened this way: "West End gays are fighting back against sexual taunts and violence, raising police concerns that vigilante actions could escalate the level of violence in the community."

The article describes incidents of physical and verbal assaults on gay men and quotes Inspector Dave Jones of the Vancouver Police Department, who says that a preliminary report on hate crimes in Vancouver shows that gays are four times more likely to run into physical violence than any other identifiable group.

It should be of great concern to us all that some people in our community think it is acceptable to harass gay men, lesbians and transgendered people. Where do those attitudes come from and what can we do to change them? Perhaps part of the answer lies in education and the need to talk about gay issues in schools.

The starting point for this Talk of the Town discussion will be a showing of the film It's Elementary (32 minutes). Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, It's Elementary was filmed in first through eighth grade classes where educators address gay issues in age-appropriate ways.

The Talk of the Town discussion that follows the film will address exactly that issue: why and how should schools address gay issues. We will explore what is currently being taught about gay issues in our schools and what more we should be doing, with a panel that represents all the constituencies of the school community: administration, teachers, students and parents.

The discussion will take place at UBC's Robson Square campus. Attendance is free of charge, but please register by phoning 604.822.1700.

It's Elementary

On their web site, the producers explain why they made the documentary:

"As parents of young children, each of us was acutely aware that social values, including attitudes about gay people, develop at a very early age. But in today's political climate, the prevailing assumption in most school communities is that gay issues aren't relevant to children, and that there's no age-appropriate way to bring up the subject without discussing sexual acts. We decided to make It's Elementary to challenge these assumptions and to encourage all adults who care about children's safety, self-worth, and innate capacity for compassion and fairness to take a fresh look at why and how schools should address gay issues."

Links & Readings

Vancouver Courier (January 19, 2003)

The Vancouver Courier article by David Carigg was published in the January 19, 2003 edition of the paper.

http://www.womedia.org/our/elem.html

It's Elementary has won awards all over the world and was shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 1996.