Bloom-Ed recently chatted to Paul, who is a member of the LGBTIQA+ community and a teacher in Brisbane. Paul and his colleagues, who all work at an elite Catholic school, recently established an after-school queer support group that they have called ‘Open Doors.’
This sounds like a great initiative. How did you get started?
Our governing body released a progressive policy statement in 2017 that made it clear that ‘same sex attracted and gender questioning’ students were welcome and accepted at our school. This policy empowered queer staff in particular, alongside other staff members, to start embedding this policy into action within the school.
An inclusive relationships student formation unit was written, which focused specifically on LGBTIQA+ issues, ‘Wear it Purple Day’ began to be celebrated annually by staff, IDAHOBIT day was recognised at a whole school assembly presentation, and a Pride Week was introduced into the school's library.
Each of the steps required approval from school administration, and at times there was some anxiety experienced by staff for fears they were pushing the boundaries of a Catholic school environment. They were nervous about attracting negative media attention - as seen previously in similar cases.
In 2021, we decided to try and start an after-school safe space for any queer students and allies. We called it Open Doors, due to the Open Doors Youth Service in Brisbane, which specifically supports LGBTQ youth and their families. They kindly sent out volunteers to attend our first meeting and provided a presentation to our group. Despite receiving minimal government funding, we have been blessed to have an ongoing volunteer from Open Doors attend our gatherings.
Initially, we would meet once per month, and mostly just have snacks and chats about all sorts of queer related things - favourite queer books, TV shows, actors etc. If staff or students felt comfortable they could share their story with the group. This year, we began to meet weekly, and started activities, like painting a huge pride flag for IDAHOBIT day and attending a queer related play.
Do you have any success stories to share?
There have been some wonderful stories and powerful moments during our Open Doors sessions. I’ll never forget the Year 8 boy who came along one afternoon for the first time. He admitted to me that it wasn't his first attempt to join an Open Doors session. He tried to attend previously, but as he walked up the stairs to the gathering, his confidence faltered, and instead he sat at a nearby table pretending to read, trying to see who walked in, or if he could overhear anything. He promised himself that the next time we gathered, he would find the courage to walk up that last flight of stairs to join us, which he did. Even just typing that makes me feel emotional.
Another time there had been a noticeable increase in homophobic behaviour by students at the school. The students in our meeting were feeling hurt and defeated. Whilst we acknowledge that we can’t fix everything in our group, I know that those students left the meeting knowing that they weren't alone and they were supported. If only I had something like that when I was in high school 20 years ago!
What are your plans for the future?
Up till now, a lot of what we have done has been very teacher led. We want to empower some of our more senior students to take the lead and steer what we do into directions that perhaps we as adults haven’t even thought of. We encourage allies to attend our meetings. Ally teachers have begun to regularly attend, but only a handful of ally students have.
For me personally, being involved in establishing this group, and working together with my fellow queer teachers to support our queer students, has been one of the most fulfilling professional and personal experiences during my time in education. It’s not an understatement for me to say that I have got just as much out of this group, as I know our students have".
Please get in touch if you have any success stories that you would like us to share!
