'Broad daylight hate crime': Allegations of physical assault towards LGBTQIA+ students in Tasmanian schools
Former student Lexi Rockliffe said she experienced severe bulling at school that led to poor mental health outcomes. (triple j Hack: April McLennan )
In short:
Members of the LGBTQIA+ community have shared their experiences of verbal and physical assault at Tasmanian schools.
It comes as a parliamentary inquiry into Discrimination and Bullying in Tasmanian Schools gets underway.
What’s next?
Tasmania's Department of Education says it will look closely at any recommendations that arise from the Inquiry.
The first time Lexi Rockliffe wore a dress to school, students screamed slurs as she walked through the front gates on her way to class.
"As a 14-year-old I felt scared, I'm just walking through and I'm terrified," she said.
"I look to a teacher, and the teacher [is] preoccupied.
"At that moment I just felt so alone, so isolated from everybody else."
Punch 'hit me dead centre in the face'
As a transgender and bisexual student at a Catholic school on Tasmania's north-west coast, Lexi said she was often the target of bullying and harassment.
The former student said during this time their mental health declined with suicidal thoughts every day.
Lexi has a tattoo of a semicolon to represent her struggle with mental health, including thoughts of suicide. (triple j Hack: April McLennan)
When she was 16 years old, Lexi said another student walked up to her desk and assaulted her during religion class.
"[He] swung at me, hit me dead centre in the face, [he] had broken my nose."
"My vision just went white, this flash of white and this blinding pain in the nose and I could feel the blood trickle down."
"I turn to the teacher, and I go 'did you not just see that? He just punched me in the face?'
"And she turns to me and goes 'what? I saw it, but I thought he just slapped you'.
"When this incident of assault happened, it was very clearly a broad daylight hate crime, but apparently it would have been fine if he'd just slapped me."
Death threats to school student
Lexi is one of many students, staff, teachers and parents who have lodged a submission to the state parliamentary Inquiry into Discrimination and Bullying in Tasmanian Schools.
The inquiry will examine school efforts to combat bullying, examine the impact of discrimination and bullying on a student's educational outcome, and determine whether legislative or policy reforms are needed to improve the school environment.
One submission was written by the parent of a transgender child "who has experienced bullying, death threats and ongoing harassment while attending public schooling in Tasmania".
"He was made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe whilst using the school bathroom facilities with young people congregating around the entrance of the facility whilst he used the bathroom," the submission said.
"I took days off work as a registered nurse to be on 'suicide watch' as my son had disclosed to me and his GP that he had thoughts of taking his own life.
Catholic Education Tasmanian said the bullying inquiry will provide a valuable insight. (Unsplash: Taylor Flowe)
Another submission detailed an alleged incident where a transgender student was physically assaulted by peers who forcibly attempted to "determine their gender."
"The assailants pushed the victim to the ground, pinned them down, and lifted their shirt to find out 'if you are really a guy'.
"Then, the assailants started feeling their chest 'to be sure'."
When the student reported the incident to the school principal, they were allegedly told "no other trans student has ever complained about being bullied … are you sure you didn't do something to provoke the students?".
Many of the submissions also appeared to be created by a website called OneClickPolitics which auto-generates advocate data.
These submissions were mostly from parents of students who attended faith-based schools in the state, and some share the exact same lines.
Discrimination towards queer people
For 24-year-old Sam Watson, his experience at a school on Tasmania's north-west coast left him feeling "isolated".
When Sam came out as gay, he said he didn't know anyone else in the community who was also same-sex attracted.
While Sam said the students and teachers at his school were somewhat supportive, when he raised the idea of starting a support group for queer students it was quickly dismissed.
Sam Watson lodged a submission to the state parliamentary Inquiry into Discrimination and Bullying in Tasmanian Schools. (Supplied: Sam Watson)
"It became very clear that the senior leadership of the church would not look so favourably upon that," he said.
"When you're a young teenager, most of your awareness of the world comes through school, so if your school isn't actively promoting support groups and role models, it's very hard to see beyond that.
"The bullying towards people and discrimination towards queer people is still going on."
In a response to triple j Hack, Catholic Education Tasmanian said the inquiry will provide valuable insight into all Tasmanian schools.
"We welcome the opportunity to participate in this important initiative and have provided a detailed submission to support this inquiry."
'Significant systemic issue'
Lynn Jarvis, chief executive of Working It Out Tasmania said the advocacy group has been working to help educate students.
While there has been progress in this space, Dr Jarvis said it remained a "significant systemic issue".
"There [are] stories about teachers calling students 'lezzies' and 'you don't want to be a lezzie because they're horrible' or teachers saying things like 'asexuality doesn't exist, it's just made up'," she said.
"Then there's a lot of indirect discrimination, bullying on the basis of somebody's sexuality or gender identity.
"Whereas a teacher might pick up another student because they make a racist comment, they're less likely to do so if they make a homophobic or transphobic comment."
Dr Lynn Jarvis says bullying and discrimination have a highly negative impact on the mental health and learning outcomes of young people. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
Dr Jarvis said a lot of groundwork was needed at Tasmanian schools to effect change.
"We see things like young LGBTIQA+ people not being included in the curriculum; we see intersex people who are erased by not being recognised in classes about bodies.
"There's a lot of groundwork that needs to happen over many years until it becomes a cultural norm, and we're a long way from that."
In a response to triple j Hack, Tasmania's Department for Education, Children and Young People said it welcomed the Inquiry and would be "looking closely at any recommendations arising from the Inquiry and how they relate to our schools."
"Bullying and discrimination in schools is unacceptable," a department spokesperson said.
"School staff are provided with resources and training to support their classroom practice on the impact of racism and discrimination on student communities to foster cultural safety within school settings.
"This includes professional learning on restorative practices and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, students with disability, and LGBTIQA+ students."