Healt

From pane 3

sical, as well as mental,
health issues for teens are
another of Ryan's concerns.
According to chief medical
officer Brian O*Connor, the
North Shore Health Region
has one of the highest Inei-
dences per capita of HIV intee-
tion in B.C.

The risk groups are evening
out — the numbers are climb-
ing amongst intravenous drug
users and heterosexuals — bur
for queer youth, getting access
to relevant health care infor-
mation may be more of a chal-
lenge because of their per-
ceived isolation. And if thev
feel they have nowhere to turn,
they are more fikely to suffer
from intense depression and
self-doubt, potentially turning
to substance abuse and risky
sexual behaviour as a coping
mechanism.

Being Out is a 1999 report

Sunday, May 7, 2!

~- North Shore News - 13

risks concern medical officer

bythe Centre
Society.

Based on a survey of gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transe n-
der teens living in urban
areas across. the province, the
report found chat 37% of gay
and lesbian youth felt like out-
siders at school.

Two-thirds regularly
endured homophobic remarks
from their peers — and nearly
one in five said they had been
physically assaulted at school in
the past year.

Shortly after the BCTF
vote, B.C. Human Rights
Commissioner Mary Woo
Sims released 2 statement in
which = she commented,
“Unfortunately, we are notin a
place where it is sate to be gay
or lesbian.

“Police records indicate
that in 1998 the greatest num-
ber of reported incidents of
hate crime and activity were
against gay men. And in a
recent public opinion survey

MeCreary

Royal Canadian Legion
Branch 60 West Vancouver

conducted by the commission,
most. British’ Columbians said
that they had the feast toler-
ance for people who are: gay.
lesbian, bisexual or transgen-
der.”

Kaplan, who has friends
who've dropped out and
become involved with sub-
stance abuse because of the
trauma thev've suffered at
school, points out that a recent
Seatde-based study of
lesbian teens shows
drop-out rate

While no similar Canadian
statistics are available, Jennifer
Horgos says at the Gab drop-
in centre alone t are sever-
al teens Who've either “moved
into the alternate school sys-

NORTH SHORE’S
HIGHEST VOLUME

ALL MA

KE
nese. VENDOR

tem, trving to find a safer envi-
ronment, or who've |
don’t do ansthing,
fence has been so
dous.”

A 1994 McCreary
Society survey of st

horren-

Centre
t youth,

meanwhile, found thar 27% of

girls and 17% of boys defined
themselves as gay or bisexual.
you cant make a_ really
racist comment or a ceally se:
ist comment and get away with
it,” says Kaplan. “You'd be
ed out of school. But it's
OK to tease people by calling
them gav. We shouldn’t let the
remarks slide.”
Horgos thinks the
veh alliances are a

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lates thar theyll have growing
pains: “In the States, they say,
‘Well, we had) our) posters
ripped,down and they called us
names, but then they got over
it”

“It’s a hostile situation now
and it will get worse before it
gets beuer. There's always a
backlash to an intervention.

“But if the administration is
on side, and there’s a strong
teacher sponsor, it’s a really
good opportunity to be posi-
tive in schools.”

For now, she says, groups
like Gab are “teaching kic
how to survive while they"re in
the closer — and not to be
ashamed of their feelings.”

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