BY NOREEN FAGAN – This quote stopped me in my tracks: “I’m feeling pretty crappy today,” group member Meagan Smith, 16, tells Xtra. “It’s been a rough week. There’s been lots of bullying.”
Smith is just one of the teenagers that Xtra reporter Andrea Houston has talked to since reporting on various Catholic school boards’ bans on GSAs. Houston has doggedly written about queer teens trying to find a safe space in schools.
Most Catholic schools say they have adopted Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy, which states that “homophobia has risen to the forefront of discussion,” but they continue to condone bullying against students who are queer.
Maybe it is time for the schools’ principals and administration staff to start watching some of the anti-bullying videos that are surfacing on the internet.
This weekend I watched one from Ireland – aren’t they Catholic over there?
On a lighter note, Dan Savage, who started the It Gets Better project, now has a spot on MTV. The columnist will be talking sex, love and relationships with college students in his new show, Savage U. Savage came to Carleton University in February this year to talk to college students about his campaign and, well, sex, love and relationships.
Why you can trust Xtra
