Over 300 Schools Celebrate Pride Week

InsideOUT Kōaro are prouder than ever to celebrate Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa - a nationwide rainbow pride campaign in schools, running June 12-16 2023. Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa is a celebratory week of events and activities to help foster a sense of belonging for rainbow young people within their schools and communities.

Now in its fourth year, this year's campaign is bigger than ever with a record number of schools from across Aotearoa participating. Over 300 schools and education institutes will be taking part in the week's festivities, including over 60% of secondary schools.

Despite the rise in conservative rhetoric and the culture war we have been seeing overseas, New Zealand schools have consistently shown the importance of recognising, supporting and celebrating the diverse community of rainbow young people we have in Aotearoa. According to the recent Identify survey, the largest study of rainbow young people’s experiences in New Zealand, about a third (32%) of students surveyed said they had learnt positive or helpful things about rainbow people, histories or issues at school. Schools’ Pride Week serves as a reminder for schools to ensure that the diversity of society in Aotearoa is reflected and celebrated.

As with previous years, school events for Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa will often be run by students, with rainbow diversity groups showcasing their leadership skills to advocate for safer, more inclusive school environments. Students from the Identify survey shared that “You can’t go a day at my school without someone using the term ‘gay’ incorrectly, or talking about how something LGBTQ related is stupid or weird. People do not understand the importance of having Rainbow spaces and clubs” and that “There is a lot of homophobia and transphobia in my school. I get asked inappropriate questions from peers about my sexuality and gender”, highlighting some of the concerns rainbow students have about the way they are treated at school. With most students (86%) reporting that they had a rainbow group/queer-straight alliance at their school, Schools’ Pride Week is the perfect opportunity for students to celebrate diversity and advocate for the changes they want to see.

“As always, it’s exciting to see schools using the Pride Week campaign to recognise and celebrate their rainbow staff and students,” says Tabby Besley, InsideOUT’s Managing Director. “We hear from many students about how important events like Pride Week are to them, and how a week like this can make such a different to their wellbeing and sense of belonging at school, so we’re pleased to see that the campaign continues to grow and that schools are actively promoting values of diversity and empathy.”

The goals of Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa 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.

Schools Pride Week Aotearoa also coincides with 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.

ENDS

Tabby Besley

Managing Director, InsideOUT Kōaro

tabby@insideout.org.nz 022 029 8697

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