“LGBTQ People Should Stay Inside”: Hate Taught in the Classroom

For many LGBTQ teenagers, hateful language at school comes from both teachers and classmates. A survey by the youth LGBTQ support center Tingdong found that 76 of 158 respondents had heard such language from teachers, while 151 had heard it from peers.

Respondents described teachers conducting debates about whether homosexuality should be accepted, interrupting lessons to criticize an anti-discrimination law and telling students not to include same-sex families in an assignment about future family structures. One respondent recalled a middle-school ethics teacher presenting material on why homosexuality was supposedly abnormal and saying that gay and transgender people should not go outside.

“

I do not expect them to look very deeply. I just wish they would explain what hate is.

The survey followed controversy over an Education Ministry guidebook on responding to hate and discriminatory language. The ministry removed concepts and examples related to sexual orientation and gender identity after preparing the guidebook in response to an incident involving mockery of the May 18 democratic uprising by a high-school baseball team. Six of the seven experts who had reviewed the guidebook withdrew their names in strong protest.

“

Just respect us.

Most respondents said they did not confront the language. Of the 158 teenagers, 129 said they endured it without saying anything. They cited fears of bullying and of being outed. Their requests to the ministry and education offices were modest: explain what hate speech is, show respect and do not leave LGBTQ students isolated behind complaints procedures.

Tingdong plans to submit the findings and ask for revisions. Its director, Jung Min-seok, said leaving the guidebook unchanged could make students who already experience discrimination feel that the Education Ministry accepts it. Ministry officials met experts and civil society groups and said they would review the content. LGBTQ and teachers’ organizations plan to demand an apology and the restoration of the deleted material at a Seoul news conference.

“

If the guidebook with the LGBTQ-related content deleted is distributed unchanged, students who experience discrimination and hate in daily life may feel even more afraid and powerless because they will interpret it as the Education Ministry tolerating hate.