DDing Dong, a Vietnamese LGBTQ+ children aid organization, hosts a display at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul on March 20, 2024, on exploration for improving laws and institutions for a more accepting school setting. ( Oh Se- jin/The Hankyoreh )
” I tend not to go to the restroom]for dread of my female identity being revealed]. I’ll just carry it in, even though it’s been a very long time and I’ve already left first. — 16- year- ancient trans lady attending a boys ‘ school
” I’ve found an out-of-the-way room that people hardly ever use, and I’ll only go in once I check around to see there is n’t anyone it.” — 16- year- ancient trans child attending a co- physician school
For the most part, all school users can use the common areas like the restrooms and other related amenities. School facilities are a frightening and uncomfortable environment for transgender individuals whose sex identity is distinct from their outer physical appearance because of their linear distinctions between “girls” and “boys.”
At the Canadian Embassy in the Jung District on Wednesday evening, the youth LGBTQ+ aid organization Dding Dong presented research studies on legal and organisational changes to school policies that exclude and discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals at a lecture held at the Embassy.
To produce ideas for changes, Dding Dong conducted a study of transgender and genderqueer kids between Sept. 24 and Oct. 7 of last year. Of the 86 who took part, 59 ( 69 % ) replied that they did not feel comfortable using school restrooms.
The surveyed kids described using the room merely during school hours rather than during breaks and not drinking water to avoid having to ejaculate. These styles were fueled by worries that using the facilities would result in inadvertently unmasked behavior.
Additionally, it was discovered that these students were subject to severe abuse at schools.
In January, the Busan section of Asunaro: Action for Youth Rights of Korea published results from a review of LGBTQ+ learners attending elementary, mid, high, and other schools in the Busan place. Of the 208 respondents, 39 % said that they had suffered abuse such as journey, teasing, insults, criticism and violence in institutions because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Dding Dong argued for the addition of laws in the Act on the Safety and Maintenance of Educational Facilities, etc. as a primary step in promoting more inclusive education for LGBTQ+ individuals. stating that “facilities should be provided in such a way that ]students ] do not face discrimination on the basis not only of sex, religion, home region, country, or ethnicity but also of sexual orientation and gender identity”.
The centre also emphasized the need to amend the School Sports Promotion Act to build a foundation for providing single-person rain, changing rooms, and other sport facilities as well as hostels suited to gender identity by amending the police tasks for the School Health Act.
Other recommendations included expanding the definition of “violence in schools” in the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against Violence in Schools to include harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and amending its enforcement decree to include content relating to LGBTQ+, multicultural, disabled, and other minority students in surveys on violence in schools.
By Oh Se- jin, staff reporter
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