Project offers opportunities for young people to connect
Shepparton’s ‘Diversity Project’ has featured on the ABC’s 7.30 Report and on Buzzfeed in recent weeks, which has provided more awareness about the amazing impact the support group is having on the local community.
“Good news stories like these mean we really have and can continue to build a cohesive community that takes equality and inclusiveness seriously,” Diversity’s community development worker Damien Stevens said.
The Diversity Project is a social support group for same-sex attracted, sex and gender diverse young people and their friends.
“The group is one of the longest running, well-known and successful support groups across our region for young people up to the age of 25 and we provide an opportunity for them to connect with other likeminded people,” Mr Stevens said.
Every fortnight the group meets in a nondescript room next to a church in Shepparton to prepare, cook and share a meal and their experiences.
“We’ve really seen the number of gender diverse and trans young people be more visible and certainly feel more welcome in the last couple of years,” he said.
Along with sharing a meal the group of around 15 people listen to guest speakers talk about topics from budgeting through to sexual health and the third hour is for socialising.
“This week we went to the movies to watch Ghostbusters, walked down the mall for ice-cream and played Pokémon Go,” Mr Stevens said.
The other component of the group is a youth worker who is available for one-on-one support for those young people who might be struggling at school or in a home where their parents are not supportive.
“Our youth worker provides support to anyone from the LGBTI community around issues that are affecting them, whether that be help with taking them to see GPs, gender specialists in Melbourne, study, finding a job or problems with selfharm,” he said.
The final component of the Diversity Project is a community development worker who talks about inclusive sexual education with students, teachers and community organisations.
“I’m the final component who works with teachers on professional development days and I liaise with the council when they’re updating policies, like the youth action plan, where we helped to make the wording more inclusive,” Mr Stevens said.
Shepparton is accepting of diversity which is good but it is still one step down from being a truly inclusive community, he said.
“Bit by bit there are policies, procedures and gestures that organisations and councils make which are steps forward, on the way to admiring, supporting and appreciating the LGBTI community.
“Gestures, though, as opposed to ongoing regular reminders, like more professional development days for staff, posters in schools that show rainbow families and other simple things which shouldn’t be taken as token gestures but as an addition to having policy and good practice, will make a positive impact on our community.”
Research estimating that 10 per cent of young people identify as same-sex attracted would mean, for example, a school like Wanganui Park Secondary College with 1000 students would have around 100 students with feelings of same-sex attraction.
“We don’t insist that 100 Wanganui students come out and label themselves but the school absolutely has a responsibility to be inclusive and the other 900 students need to be a part of the same education, around feeling good about being gay, bi or straight,” Mr Stevens said.
“You can’t go into a school and round up the queer kids and do sexual education with just them.”
At least five schools in our region are signed up to the Safe Schools Coalition Australia, which means they are “actively working to provide a safe school free from homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language”.
“When people refer to the safe schools program as a booklet for teaching people to bind their chest or promoting homosexuality, that is completely inaccurate,” Mr Stevens said.
“A safe school is a school where every student can learn, every teacher can teach and every family feels like they belong, providing a broad and inclusive range of resources that schools have access too, to keep their students safe.”
Mr Stevens, 36, came out to his family as gay when he was 18 years old and said it wasn’t received well by his family.
“I moved out of home and then moved back but it was tough. I’ve lived in Shepparton for the past 12 years and I’ve been in a relationship with my partner for eight years,” he said.
“I’ve had religious material left on my doorstep, homophobic language hurled at me and it’s been tough being the face of LGBTI issues, but I am now happy and healthy and feel good about that.”
For any young person thinking about coming out, Mr Stevens said he would only encourage them to come out when they feel it is safe to do so.
“You don’t need to come bursting out of the closet, rainbow flags flying; talk with a welfare worker, teacher or a friend that you can trust, don’t let anyone force you, just feel good about who you are,” he said.