Lessons in coming out

A GUEST lecturer at Griffith University wants teachers to be better trained to look after lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) students in Gold Coast schools.

Author and public speaker Tracey Horton said teachers were often used to “test the waters” by students who wanted to come out as gay.

“Statistics say if (the students) are coming out at school they’re often doing it in the third term of Year 12 to test if society is ready for them,” she said.

“They think if this teacher is OK with it maybe their employer or uni teacher will be too.

“(But) 90 per cent of the time they’re just referred to a website.”

According to a 2013 La Trobe University study, about 20 per cent of high school students are attracted to both sexes, with another 9 per cent “unsure” about their sexual attraction.

“I long for a world where a student can say to a teacher ‘I think I’m gay’ and the teacher can say ‘that’s OK, let’s talk about it’,” Ms Horton said.

“(The teachers) are really unequipped and they’re busy – we need to equip them to help a child come out.”

Ms Horton spoke to more than 300 first-year teaching students at Griffith’s Mt Gravatt and Logan campuses last month and there are plans for her to speak on the Coast in coming weeks.

She has previously shared her own story of abuse, penning a book about mentally overcoming being sexually abused as a child, as well as her struggles with poverty and domestic violence.

She said members of the LGBTI community found solace in her advice, having also been marginalised.

The mother of four, and grandmother to nine, said teachers were increasingly under pressure to deal with issues outside the curriculum.

“The teachers’ job is really hard now because (they’re) having to pick up a part of society where 50 years ago parents were doing this at home,” she said.

“The teachers live in a really stressful time because they have children in their classrooms that more than ever are on the spectrum and that are being abused and acting out from it.

“Statistically, in Australia, if there are 20 kids in the class, seven of them will have been sexually abused, three will be on the spectrum and three will have to come out and reassign their gender.”

Ms Horton said it was equally important teachers were given emotional support to cope themselves.

She is also developing a school-based course for senior high school students to teach self-esteem and empowerment.

“We need to find a way to accept each other,” she said.