Three young people from Extremadura have spoken at the Assembly of Extremadura this Monday, October 30. Sergio, a gay boy; Laura, a transsexual girl, and Lucía as a representative of the ‘Ayuda entre Iguales’ program have become for one day the voice of many young people who live in Extremadura and who still have to face the nonsense of homophobia. They have been followed by the words of fathers, mothers and teachers involved in the equal education of their children and students. This is how the II school plenary session against bullying due to LGBTIphobia which the Extremaduran chamber has hosted.
This is an initiative of the Extremadura Triangle Foundation in which students from the Cristo del Rosari institutesor, from Zafra, and Silver Routefrom Calamonte, and which has included the personal testimonies of young people and families to promote dialogue between all agents of the educational community on this matter.
At the event, the president of the Assembly spoke, Blanca Martinwho congratulated and showed his gratitude to the Triángulo Foundation and all the participants for an initiative that last year was recognized by the Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of Europe (CALRE).
In this sense, the president of the Extremadura Chamber referred to the Stars of Europe Award to the Assembly of Extremadura for the celebration of the country’s first school plenary session against bullying due to LGTBIphobia. An award that she, as she explained, is shared with the Triángulo Foundation and that she will collect on the 10th in Seville during the celebration of the CALRE Plenary Assembly.
“We have to keep working”
Martín declared that Spain is a country “of which we should be proud for its extensive legislation on LGTBI matters, unusual in Europe.” He also highlighted the work carried out by the Triángulo Foundation for years on “regional, national and international problems” and encouraged them to continue working and fighting “so that this experience can be implemented in other regional parliaments and in the Cortes Generales of the Spanish State. but that we also export it beyond our borders, to those developed democracies, so that meetings can take place where harassment and, above all, respect for human rights in all areas of our lives are made visible and denounced.”
The spokesperson of the Board, Isabel Gil Rosinaannounced during his speech that the regional government is “already working on an agreement that we are going to sign with the University of Extremadura to carry out a sociological study on the LGTBI reality in the educational world of our region.”
On the other hand, the vice president of the Triángulo Foundation and head of the Institutional and Media Attention Area of the Foundation, Pablo Cantero, stated that “our goal is to make educational centers a better place; make our schools and institutes more friendly spaces for everyone; make classrooms, hallways and playgrounds safe spaces for students and teachers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender and for those boys and girls who are part of an LGTBI family.”
During the plenary session, the vote was carried out on a school contract of commitment to diversity, that is, a decalogue of measures that the participating students agreed to take to declare their classroom ‘LGTBIfriendly Space’. Among the commitments acquired, the most notable is not to use sexist, homophobic and/or transphobic terms or expressions, comments or jokes; work to raise awareness about the principles of equal rights and opportunities and respect for LGBTI diversity; not presuppose the heterosexuality or gender of the people around us and help break stereotypes and gender roles in order to promote and facilitate freedom and coexistence.