Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTI Youth:

Reflections of the #PurpleMySchool

Campaign

YOUTH AT THE HEART OF THE

2030 AGENDA: THE CASE FOR
SPACE
Bangkok, Thailand
30
November
2016
Hunter
Gray
Education Consultant
UNESCO Bangkok

MOST LGBT ARE AFFECTED

Source: See original citations in Figure 5, UNESCO. 2015. From insult to inclusion: Asia-Pacific report on school bullying, violence and discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity. Bangkok: UNESCO.


UNESCO

Source: Mahidol University, Plan International Thailand, UNESCO Bangkok. 2014. Bullying targeting secondary school students who are or are perceived to be
transgender or same-sex attracted: Types, prevalence, impact, motivation and preventing measures in 5 provinces of Thailand. Bangkok: UNESCO.

UNDERSTANDING THE
PROBLEM
LGBTI students face bullying, discrimination, and violence
that is much higher than that which their non-LGBTI peers
experience
It is not only those who self-identify as LGBTI who are targeted those
that do not conform to gender norms and/or norms that are associated
with being heterosexual are also at risk
Misrepresentation, or the lack of positive representations, within
textbooks and curricula are contributing factors
In many cases, students that are the targets of bullying do not seek help,
as schools may not have the supports or response mechanisms to
address the issues

MULTI-TIERED RESPONSE IS
NEEDED

THE RESPONSE

CAMPAIGN.COM WEBSITE
Campaign.com partnered with the
#PurpleMySchool campaign by
providing a free Campaign.com
website and account
The campaign website was
available in Chinese, Hindi, Bahasa
Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese

#PurpleMySchool

PHOTOS FROM SCHOOL EVENTS

Tagore International
School
New Delhi, India

Dagon
University
Myanmar

Harbin Medical
University
China

EXAMPLES OF SCHOOL
EVENTS & SUBMISSIONS

PHOTOS FROM SCHOOL EVENTS

Defence Services
Medical
Academy, Myanmar

Samar State
University
Philippines

Quezon City High

School
Philippines

PHOTOS FROM SCHOOL EVENTS

St Peters College
Iligan City,
Philippines

DMMA College of
Southern
Philippines

Nguyenviethong High
School
Cantho City, Vietnam

PHOTOS FROM SCHOOL EVENTS

PHOTOS FROM OTHER EVENTS

Yangon launch
event
Myanmar

Jakarta launch
event
Indonesia

Vinh Long
Pride
Viet Nam

PHOTOS FROM OTHER EVENTS

Viet Pride
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet
Nam

Human Rights & Gender

Working Group,
Myanmar

Waraya Youth
Advocates
Philippines

PHOTOS FROM OTHER EVENTS

2nd Youth Sexuality

Educators Forum,
Beijing

US Embassy
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia

Thai
event

ENGAGEMENT &
OUTCOMES

SOCIAL MEDIA
21,600+ video views for promotional videos in six languages
13,250+ Facebook page likes
#PurpleMySchool events and photo submissions from 11 countries
(Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, the
Philippines, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam)
55,100+ people reached via the networks and social media platforms of
contributing organizations
Over 400 posts submitted on the campaign site

ENGAGEMENT
28 human rights, LGBTI, and youth organizations have contributed to the
campaign. Some of the organizations that support the campaign include:
Australia: Wear it Purple
Cambodia: Cam ASEAN and Cambodia Centre for Human Rights, Ministry of Education,
Youth, and Sport, Youth's Networks of UNICEF
China: Aibai, Tongxingshe
India: Breaking Barriers
Indonesia: Arus Pelangi, Transhition Indonesia, the Independent Youth Alliance, Sudah
Dong, and Into the Light
Myanmar: Rainbow Colors, Youth Development Program of the Myanmar Medical
Association, Youth Stars Myanmar, Human Rights and Gender Working Group
Nepal: Blue Diamond Society
The Philippines: Y-Peer Pilipinas
Thailand: Path2Health, Mplus, and Plan International
Viet Nam: VietPride and ICS

Nepal:
BDS, UNESCO and UNDP facilitated
informative LGBTI sessions at six
schools (4 private and 2 government
schools) reaching approximately 770
students and 40 teachers, and
created of a video for advocacy.

Cambodia:
Cam ASEAN has trained over
4,000 teachers trained on
SOGIE, sex education and life
skills with UNESCO support,
and created a Facebook page
and group.

China:
At Harbin Medical University, the
student club Tongxingshe has
used the #PurpleMySchool
theme as the impetus for
organizing advocacy and peer
support activities for their LGBTI
peers on campus.

Indonesia:
UNDP supported three youth
organizations the
Independent Youth Alliance,
Sudah Dong and Into the Light
to convene activities for the
#PurpleMySchool campaign at
the Selamat Datang Monument
in downtown Jakarta. More
than 40 youth participants took
part in the advocacy event.


CamASEAN

Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Development Pr

MULTI-TIERED RESPONSE IS
NEEDED

The more diverse a society is, the

better it will develop. The same goes
for a school environment. If we
embrace diversity at school, it will
improve the quality of education
because we all have a lot of colors.
- Dinh Thi Yen Ly, PFLAG Viet
Nam

Thank You