A CORK city school is this week celebrating its first ever LGBT Awareness Week.

Deerpark CBS is running the weeklong event to coincide with National Stand-Up Awareness Week, which is organised by Belong To, an Irish support group for LGBT youths. By increasing awareness, friendship and support for LGBT people, this awareness week helps to tackle homophobic bullying. It aims to tackle issues facing LGBT youths by letting them know that they are not alone, and that bullying is not acceptable.
To mark the week, Deerpark CBS will raise a rainbow flag to show its support for the cause, marking the school as a tolerant and accepting institution. Movies, documentaries, discussions and debates centring on the issue of homophobia will take place throughout the week, with guest speakers including Senator Jerry Buttimer and former Deerpark CBS student and Mr Gay Cork, Konrad Im.
School principal Kevin Barry said the school is working to eliminate discrimination against LGBT students. “For a long time now, the Catholic Church has been seen as a cold, uncaring institution that supports anti-gay prejudice and discrimination. As a Catholic school in the ERST (Edmund Rice Schools Trust) tradition, our position and ethos is very clear.
ERST schools take their inspiration from the caring and loving example of Christ.
“Over the last few years, the ERST Trust has worked with the Gay & Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) to help end prejudice and discrimination against gay people.” Mr Barry said that the school wants to see an end to discrimination and supports members of its community who are gay. He said, “In Deerpark CBS, we challenge prejudice and attitudes that we believe go against the caring instinct of the Christian message. We find prejudice and discrimination to be an ugly and immature behaviour that some people display.
“It is important to remember that being gay is not a choice. Rather, a person’s sexuality is a core aspect of who that person is, and is no more a choice than height or skin colour or intelligence.”

National Stand Up! Awareness Week runs from November 14 to 18 across Ireland. See www.belongto.org for more information.

Source: www.eveningecho.ie