December 15, 2006: Discrimination facing gay and lesbian learners in high schools will soon be stemmed out.

OUT LGBT Well – being (OUT) and Gay and lesbians Archives (GALA) in the Gauteng Province, South Africa are embarking on a research initiative that could produce support material to assist learners and educators to understand homosexuality better.

Even though the initiative is still at its early stages, OUT Programmes Director Melanie Judge said that the material is intended to be integrated in the Life Orientation curriculum.

Asked about his experiences of discrimination at school, 19-year-old Tokologo Phwame – a gay leaner at Athlone Boys High said he had been victimized many times at school by his mates because of his sexual orientation.

“My first year at school was difficult because when the boys noticed that I was gay, they behaved differently towards me. They used to tease me and say that I was the only girl at the school”, he said.

On the other hand 21 year-old Lerato Mohalusi was once suspended from school for wearing boys’ pants instead of a tunic like other girls at P.J. Simelane High School where she used attend school. “I told the principal that I could not wear girls’ uniform because I did not feel comfortable in it. Even though I was allowed to go back to school shortly after that I still wore boys uniform and as a learner I had no one from an LGBT organization to help me fight for my rights as a lesbian.”

Mohalusi feels that OUT and GALA’s initiative is necessary as she believes that it can shed light to educators about homosexuality and how to relate to gay and lesbian learners. “I feel that teachers need to be taught about lesbian and gay issues so that they can be able to assist us and not tell us that we are confused”, she said.

For the past two years, OUT and GALA have been working with both the National and Gauteng Education departments to address issues faced by gay learners. Judge pointed out that the policy framework is there and that the challenge is for the department to take the necessary and practical steps to ensure that homosexual learners enjoy a non-discriminatory learning environment.

“In the long term, I believe that the signing of the Bill will mitigate against the stigma of homosexuality and hopefully assist in facilitating a more accepting and tolerant societal response towards LGBT people”, Judge said.

OUT and GALA have already begun training with Life Orientation structures at the District Level to sensitize them on issues facing LGBT people so that they are better equipped to address issues of sexual orientation when they implement the Life Orientation Curriculum.