InsideOUT Kōaro present
Schools Pride Week
August 24-28, 2020
Celebrating Pride in Every School - 
Whakanuia te uenuku ki ia kura

InsideOUT Kōaro are proud to launch Schools Pride Week - the first ever nationwide Pride Week campaign based in schools, running August 24-28, 2020. A celebratory week of events and activities to help foster a sense of belong for rainbow young people within their schools and communities, the initiative welcomes schools, queer straight alliances, rainbow diversity groups, students, and staff across the country to get involved.

With over 100 registrations from education organisations ranging from early childhood providers to tertiary institutions, the primary aim of the campaign is to help reduce the experiences of bullying and distress for Aotearoa’s rainbow rangatahi and help them to feel included and valued within education facilities. Themes for each day during Schools Pride Week include education, inclusion, wellbeing, whakapapa and rainbow history, and celebration/pride. Focused on celebrating and affirming rainbow identities, the goals of Schools Pride Week are to:

Celebrate rainbow staff and students in school communities, increasing a sense of belonging

Support schools to facilitate activities and pride celebrations in their school, through the sharing of resources and information

Create opportunities for schools to incorporate rainbow issues into school subjects, and normalise rainbow identities across the curriculum.

The importance of providing additional support for rainbow students has never been more critical, with Youth’19 data released this month showing a decline in wellbeing for rainbow young people since 2012. Depression symptoms remain over 30% higher than that of heterosexual cisgender young people, and rates are rising. The study also showed that only 54% of gender minority students felt safe at school most or all of the time, compared to 88% of heterosexual cisgender students. The study found between 10-16% of secondary school students in Aotearoa identified with a sexual or gender minority, or were questioning their identity.

Schools Pride Week has been created by InsideOUT, a national organisation that works with youth, whānau, schools, and communities to make Aotearoa a safer place for all rainbow young people to live and be in. The campaign is supported by a youth advisory group, made up of 8 rainbow young people from diverse backgrounds across Aotearoa, who are guiding the decision-making and direction of the campaign. The campaign builds on InsideOUT’s former Day of Silence campaign by shifting the primary focus to a week-long celebration.

Speaking about the inaugural campaign, Managing Director of InsideOUT Tabby Besley says “We could not be more thrilled by the response of Aotearoa’s education sector to join us for the first ever Schools Pride Week. We think focusing on affirmation and drawing attention to our rainbow young people and all of their experiences will uplift them, promoting safety and a sense of belonging within our schools.”

Schools Pride Week also coincides with the third year of Out on the Shelves, an opportunity for school and community libraries to build and promote their rainbow collections, celebrate rainbow stories and help connect rainbow young people with these stories and with each other.

Tabby Besley (she/her) is the founder and Managing Director of InsideOUT and identifies as a Pākehā queer femme. She has been volunteering and working in rainbow communities since she was 15 when she led her high-school queer straight alliance and has been involved with a range of rainbow organisations.

In 2015 Tabby’s work was recognised internationally, as she became the first and only New Zealander to receive a Queen’s Young Leader Award. Tabby was one of five to receive the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference Award in 2017, as well as being the Education Finalist for NEXT Woman of the Year and receiving the Wellingtonian of the Year Youth Award. In 2019 she was made a finalist for the Inclusion category of the Impact Awards and received a Kiwibank Local Hero medal. In 2020 she was announced as finalist for Young New Zealander of the Year.

The Youth Advisory Panel are:

Max Loh (He/Him)
Raised in a country where being gay wasn’t legal and frowned upon, moving to New Zealand liberated and freed Max from the oppression and allowed him to be his true self. Training to be a chef, Max attends Auckland’s Botany Downs Secondary College and is a member of their QSA to make sure our school and community is well protected and heard.

Hariata (They/Them) - Ngāti Kuia, Rangitane ki Wairau, Ngāti Apa ki te Ra To, Ngāti Porou, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Tuwharetoa

A takatāpui person who lives in Nelson, Hariata is also a board member of Q-Youth in Nelson who they volunteer with. Previously they created and led the QSA at their college which is still going today!

Shaneel Lal (He/Him) 
As a young iTaukei, Shaneel’s focus is to decolonise and indigenise the spaces he belongs to in order to restore the rights of queer people. Sitting on the Minister of Education’s youth advisory group for 2 years where he advocates for a equitable education system for queer people, Shaneel also co-founded the Conversion Therapy Action Group to achieve a ban on conversion therapy.

Fatima Hael Martin (They/Them)
A passionate supporter for people in the LGBTQIA+ community, Fatima’s activism began by hosting the Day of Silence and other pride related activities at their school, where they are currently developing plans to start a QSA/GSA group.

Katie Sears (She/Her)
An out and proud bisexual, Katie’s current goals are to create a positive difference to the community, largely through her school’s Spectrum group.

Shannae Phelan (She/Her)
A proud supporter of the LGBT+ community who grew up around a group of strong queer women, Shannae was attending pride events in her city from a young age. Coming out as a lesbian at age 15, she is now the co-leader of her school’s LGBT+ group.

Toni (He/Him)

Facing challenges of internalised homophobia in a Catholic school and community, Toni hopes to use his personal growth and experience to help other closeted queer people to live authentically.

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