Talking about LGTBphobia implies talking about rejection, fear, repudiation, prejudice or discrimination towards women or men who recognize themselves as gay, lesbian, trans or bisexual. Yolanda Carmona, psychologist specializing in sexology and the LGTBIQA+ collective (lesbians, gays, transsexuals, bisexuals, intersex, queer —unusual, far from the established ideas of sexuality and gender— and asexuals, among others), clarifies that more reprehensible attitudes can be added to this concept: “It is necessary to point out the existence of behaviors of intolerance, oppression, psychological violence, physical and symbolic and even lacks in the recognition of rights”.
He bullying gender school or gender bullying It occurs when people are harassed because of their identity, sexuality, gender expression or certain physical characteristics. For Carmona, it would be essential for the child to be able to express himself freely on the affective-sexual level, in a place where emotions are not punished and there is affection and communication. “Education at home and that taught at school must go hand in hand,” she adds. “It is of little or no use that a normalization of other sexual orientations, in addition to heterosexuality, is offered in class, if at home a child or young person who has a more feminine expression is called a ‘faggot’”, she continues. For this expert, the extension of the vocabulary, the understanding of some terms and talk about diversity and tolerance should be promoted.
Carmona emphasizes the importance of awareness and visibility of the bullying to the LGTBIQA collective: “Take into account the warning signs and their consequences, in addition to promoting strategies to deal with this type of violence.” The psychologist explains that those who suffer this type of bullying have a tendency to truant, drop out of school and lower their performance in class. “On the other hand, many suffer from anxiety, depression, guilt, frustration or anger,” she adds. “One of the situations that is being seen most frequently lately regarding LGTB+ bullying is the increase in cyberbullying behaviors. The high possibility of experimenting with suicidal ideas in these children is also alarming”, says the professional.
“According to data from a survey carried out in 2022 via WhatsApp and Instagram by GoStudent —a platform that has more than 20,000 private teachers around the world—, many LGBT+ adolescents still do not feel free to be themselves at school,” he explains via e-mail Naiara Campo Albala, spokesperson and manager of the Tutors Department at GoStudent Spain. “As for whether this freedom occurs among the classmates themselves, in Spain only 44% of the tutors think that their students are tolerant of their peers who belong to the LGTB+ collective,” adds Campo.
The 2019 report of hate crimes, Prepared by the FELGTBI+ (State Federation of this community), reports that “7% of discriminatory incidents occur in educational spaces.” The text points to the LGTBphobia as one of the main causes of bullying: “It is one of the most worrying data, since this violence takes place in a space supposedly protected by the public powers and where, in theory, the new generations should be educated in peaceful coexistence and in the values of diversity and respect for others. fundamental rights established by the Spanish Constitution”. “In the surveys collected anonymously by COGAM (Madrid LGTB+ collective) in the classrooms, it turned out that, among the 6,500 students surveyed, 14% did not consider themselves heterosexual, but only 1 in 5 of them would dare to say so openly. . It is a fact that must be corrected with an education in affective-sexual diversity and identity in the school curriculum”, adds Ángela De Castro, coordinator of the training of the Education group at COGAM.
De Castro clarifies that the bullying LGTB+ has characteristics that make it particularly difficult to stop or avoid: “People who suffer from it, not only suffer from it because there is irrefutable proof that their sexual orientation or gender identity is not the norm, but because they appear to be. Appearing gay or trans, that is, the pen you have, is the cause that encourages that bullying. We can remember the tragic murder of the young Samuel in Galicia in July 2021, mercilessly beaten with cries of a fagot for having a pen.
“If you get to your first years of school and you realize that how you are means things you don’t understand, but it generates rejection, you assume that this behavior or part of you is something negative and you hide it, you camouflage it for survival and integration. . This ends up in adults with stolen adolescents”, affirms De Castro. For the expert, the fact that a boy, a girl or an adolescent comes home from school and says that they call him a “faggot” or “bolera”, means having to answer: And why?: “Yes to this We add that the children are not sure if the information will be received at home with even more rejection than at school, it becomes incredibly difficult to break the silence”.
The coordinator of the training of the Education group in COGAM highlights that in a high percentage of cases of LGBT+ bullying, children and young people find themselves without support among their peers for fear of stigma: “Because if they defend you, for example, for being or appear gay, he will be labeled as being like him or even as his partner”. De Castro emphasizes that more training on identities or different sexual orientations must be provided: “It is necessary to allow a more authentic reflection of the realities, for example, in which there are more girls who aspire to be astronauts and more boys to dancers.”
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