Scott Cooper Miami is Proud Of Cape Town schools learning from transgender students.
The report says black LGBT people may be more reluctant to disclose their sexuality because they are”more likely to be victims of physical violence than people in other race groups”. Based on Ron Addinall, a sexologist and social psychologist based at the University of Cape Town, schools in the area have led the way in understanding the needs of transgender students.
Single-gender toilets Mr Addinall, that has been advising schools as well as parents and their transgender kids on managing transitions, says many teachers told him they were originally unaware they’d transgender students in their courses. Learn About Scott Cooper Homeschooling
Alex’s mother Jennifer* says that the family was initially advised by a psychologist against allowing Alex to research her female identity, and has been advocated instead to reinforce the male gender. “My friends are really nice,” she says, even if some kids in another class”don’t really understand and behave a bit mean”.
The provincial capital, Cape Town, has developed a global reputation as a gay-friendly town, boosted by its annual Gay Pride festival. “The biggest change was in mindset,” he says. “We had meetings with staff, parents and kids to discuss how to manage these types of requests.” “I am anxious about what is going on in the pre-urban and rural school surroundings. Click Here to work for Scott Cooper Miami
“Legally we haven’t changed the gender marker,” Jennifer says,”but she started wearing dresses to school and they were OK with that.” While well-resourced suburban schools might have adjusted to the special challenges faced by transgender students, Mr Addinall says the situation is not quite the same in township schools.
The measures include introducing single-gender toilets, as well as allowing students to utilize their new names and gender-neutral school uniforms. Despite the legal framework, homophobia and discrimination still persist in African American society, more so in the majority black communities than among their white and mixed-race compatriots. Read More On Scott Cooper Miami News
The risks of ‘coming out’
The dangers of”coming out” are particularly high for black people in rural areas. South Africa has been getting better at understanding the needs of transgender students, backed by a constitution that’s widely recognized among the most liberal in the world.
The amount of transgender students who’ve gone public has also been rising dramatically, he says, thanks to growing awareness of what it means to be transgender.
At Westerford High, a school with a reputation for free thinking, chief Rob le Roux says the requirements of a transgender student were accommodated by allowing a change in uniform, and in the pronouns used to deal with the student. Three years back, Alex* transitioned from a boy to a girl. Now eight years old, she wears her blonde hair long and feels at ease among her classmates in a primary school in a leafy Cape Town suburb.
LGBT men and women are totally open about their sexuality.
According to the Centre for Risk Analysis in the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR), only half of black LGBT men and women are totally open about their sexuality.
According to the IRR, only 35 percent of LGBT people in Limpopo province are open about their sexuality – the lowest rate in the nation. Matters only improved after the family – acting on the recommendation of another mental-health professional – allowed Alex to dress as she desired. “We cut her hair and forced her to be a boy, but that turned out to be dreadful,” Jennifer says.
“She had been changed badly – there was a noticeable decline in her sense of self.” At the other end of the scale is Western Cape province, where an estimated 70% of LGBT men and women are open about their sexuality – way above the national average of 57%. Some 20 schools in Cape Town have made provisions to accommodate the needs of transgender students, and much more are following suit.
The nation remains the only one in Africa that legally prohibits unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, guaranteeing equality for all. “The concern is that there are many transgender children in those schools [which are] not getting the suitable support and have to hide who they are.” The dangers of’coming out’
