“A large number of schools participate in Purple Friday, but there is still a lot to gain”

• Julius Jessurun

  online editor

• Hugo van der Parre

  Research Editor

• Sophie Moorland

  interior curator

According to the COC, this year a large percentage of all secondary schools in the Netherlands participate in Purple Friday, a day to draw attention to the acceptance of LGBTI people in schools. Many of these schools also state that LGBTI education is part of their curriculum, according to a NOS survey.

122 of the nearly 650 secondary schools responded to the NOS survey. Of these 122, 118 claim to participate in Purple Friday. In 116 schools, the curriculum focuses on LGBTI policy.

The question is how representative the research is, but schools across the Netherlands have answered. Most came from North and South Holland (for a total of 42 schools, of which 10 schools from Amsterdam and 3 from Rotterdam), where most of the secondary schools are located.

They were followed by Noord-Brabant (19 schools), Overijssel (14) and Gelderland (13). There were also many schools in small and medium sized towns and villages such as Veenendaal (2 schools), Meppel, Panningen, Volendam and Oosterwolde.

It is possible that mainly schools that already have an active LGBTI policy responded, but the COC believes that the picture the survey paints corresponds to reality quite well.

A number of schools state that they pay attention to LGBTI issues by including books on this topic in their reading list. “And in the first class we deal with the topic ‘who am I?'”, says a secondary school employee in Zoetermeer.

At the coordinator of the nursing school Sasha Loonen, attention is also paid to LGBTI subjects. Among other things, the students decorate the building and sell cupcakes for a good cause. Purple Friday newspapers and manuals for teachers have been ordered at the COC. Her school also has a so-called Gender alliance and sexuality (GSA). This alliance includes students who are committed to the acceptance of LGBTI people.

Many other schools also have such a GSA. More than three-quarters of the schools that participated in the NOS survey say they have such a student alliance.

Overall, there’s a good response to the initiatives at her school, Loonen says. “But it’s always exciting, because when we put up a rainbow flag two years ago, it was taken down.”

And unpleasant comments could be read on the school’s social networks. “Precisely for this we are committed and it remains important to pay attention to these issues and invest energy, for example, in Purple Friday”.

According to COC spokesman Philip Tijsma, there is still much to be gained. “School surveys show that ‘gay’ is still one of the most commonly used swear words.” According to him, LGBTI students are also bullied up to three times more often than non-LGBTI students.

That there is still a lot to gain, the National Security Tracking 2020-2021 see. According to the study, high school students are the least tolerant of LGBTI students. 15% of high school students said they would rather not be friends with trans girls. For the same question about trans boys, 14 percent answered that, for gay boys it was 13 percent and for gay girls it was 12 percent.

With GSAs, among others, the COC hopes there will be more understanding for LGBTI students. Some schools state that their GSA emerges primarily in the mentor’s lessons, but some schools state that they draw attention to this initiative in other lessons as well.

More than fifty of the schools participating in the NOS survey have gender-neutral or gender-inclusive toilet facilities. These toilets are for anyone to use and are therefore not specifically aimed at men or women.

COC’s Nimako thinks it is good that more and more schools are recognizing the importance of gender-separated toilet facilities, but has doubts about implementation.

“We see schools sometimes taking the easy route and saying, for example, ‘Our teacher’s bathroom is gender neutral.’ But students may experience using the teacher’s bathroom as a barrier For young people, this is sometimes embarrassing.” According to her, trans and non-binary youth often withhold urine until they go home out of fear and there are health risks.

Most of the schools that took part in the survey say they do everything they can to create a safe environment for LGBTI students. However, Nimako believes improvements are still needed for these schools as well.

“It’s certainly good that schools feel responsible. Their intention is good and they think they’re doing everything they can, but in many cases that’s still not the case,” she says. “If we look at the figures, more can and must be done. Because the climate in schools is still relatively negative”.