What is it like to be openly gay in a typical New Zealand high school?

Answer 1

Being openly gay in New Zealand high schools has improved dramatically over the past decade with more and more LGBT people coming out of the closet. As with most countries, the northern part of the country is more tolerating and accepting than the south part. North Island schools in New Zealand, particularly around Wellington and Auckland have demonstrated a fairly tolerating LGBT attitude. Schools in Christchurch and Dunedin in the South Island have also proven to be more accepting of LGBT people, with Christchurch having one of the highest populations of gay men int he country.

As expected, you may experience some name calling such as "f*ggot" and similar derogatory terms. Usually, this is dealt with by school authorities relatively well.

In rare cases, you may be abused, discriminated or excluded at the student level. It is very important in this case that you alert school authorities and let your parents know. If this is not solved to a satisfactory standard, other authorities should be called and alerted to the incident.

In even rarer cases, you may experience abuse, discrimination and prejudice from members of the school faculty. For example, a teacher who grades you poorly based on your sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a human rights issue and should be referred to higher school authority in the first instance. If this is not resolved, the New Zealand Human Rights Committee or the Ministry of Education should be contacted outlining the incident.

Overall, attitudes towards LGBT students have improved over the years. Remember that by coming out of the closet and declaring yourself as gay, you are sending out a beacon of hope to other closeted people that it is okay to be gay. It is a form of activism!