[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/","headline":"Respect for all: Every LGBTQ student matters, or do they?","name":"Respect for all: Every LGBTQ student matters, or do they?","description":"When Charissa, who is in a same-sex relationship with her partner, came out about her sexuality in her late teens, it was not to a very inclusive environment. \u201cIt was in 2015. I was 18 and I remember coming out to my family somewhere between the end of 2015 and early 2016 when my mental […]","datePublished":"2022-06-27","dateModified":"2022-08-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/arulnathan_john\/#Person","name":"Arulnathan John","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/arulnathan_john\/","identifier":396,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/053f079af441a6c993041759292d52d77404b19c9bd6a8485ee76ee39663df51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/053f079af441a6c993041759292d52d77404b19c9bd6a8485ee76ee39663df51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feature-SCMP.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Feature-SCMP.jpg","height":900,"width":1600},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/","commentCount":"5","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2026-05-25 07:06:17","description":"Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me. https:\/\/www.binance.bh\/register?ref=QCGZMHR6","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"binance register","url":"https:\/\/accounts.binance.bh\/register\/person?ref=IXBIAFVY"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#Comment2","dateCreated":"2026-05-12 06:23:32","description":"Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Binance\u7f8e\u56fd\u6ce8\u518c","url":"https:\/\/www.binance.info\/register?ref=MBLCVVZG"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#Comment3","dateCreated":"2026-05-02 09:54:44","description":"Excellent breakdown of the topic.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"tv world live","url":"https:\/\/notclosed.com\/?URL=https:\/\/www.oneotv.com\/"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#Comment4","dateCreated":"2026-04-28 10:19:06","description":"This should be featured everywhere.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Salomon shoes nearby","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/men\/Salomon-Men-Shoes"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#Comment5","dateCreated":"2026-04-24 10:24:29","description":"This is going to help so many people.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Salomon shoes for sale","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/men\/Salomon-Men-Shoes"}}],"about":["Big Read","Community","Local","Sex & Gender","Singapore"],"wordCount":1548,"keywords":["Alex Teh","Leow Yangfa","LGBTQ","Low Yen Ling","MOE","New Zealand","NIE","NMP","Oogachaga","Otto Fong","PSEI","transgender","Walter Theseira"],"articleBody":"When Charissa, who is in a same-sex relationship with her partner, came out about her sexuality in her late teens, it was not to a very inclusive environment.\u201cIt was in 2015. I was 18 and I remember coming out to my family somewhere between the end of 2015 and early 2016 when my mental health condition was exacerbated by friendship problems and problems coping with my sexuality and school life in Junior College,\u201d she says.\u00a0“I regularly had increasingly strong physical urges to kill myself after school whenever I was distressed by my mental state and sexuality. At that point, I felt forced to come out to my family to seek help and comfort about what I was experiencing,\u201d she addsCharissa says that most of the young LGBTQ+ people she knows personally, especially those who are now their 20s, struggle with finding acceptance among their family about their gender identity or sexuality. Their common fears include parents threatening to kick them out, continual denial among their families, and being forced to leave the resultant toxic home environment that results.As awareness of the needs for acceptance and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community grows, nowhere can this recognition be clearer than in Singapore schools and education systems.Schools and institutions of higher learning should be safe spaces where LGBTQ+ students and those who harbour same-sex attraction can reach their potential and get equal breaks at success.Schools and the LGBTQ+ communitySchools can support LGBTQ+ youth by encouraging respect for all students and developing and implementing nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies that include actual or perceived sexual orientation as well as gender identity and expression. (Photo source: Portland Monthly)On 4 September 2019, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education Low Yen Ling told Parliament how teachers and counsellors in Singapore are given “very extensive training” to handle bullying targeting gender identity or sexual orientation.She said this in response to then Nominated Member of Parliament Walter Theseira\u2019s queries about the measures in place to combat bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression at educational institutions.Ms Low highlighted that “no bullying of any form is tolerated at any time” in Singapore’s schools and\u00a0post-secondary educational institutions (PSEIs).“When working with students with sexuality-related issues, our school counsellor understands the sensitivity and they adopt an objective approach to ensure the overall best interest of the students,” she said.\u201cWhen these parents are eventually engaged, the school counsellors also facilitate discussion that enhances the parents\u2019 understanding of the student\u2019s concerns and issues,” said Ms Low.\u00a0Teachers are also taught at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in a teacher preparation programme that equips them with “strategies to address actions that are mean or hurtful”\u00a0and “manage behaviour such as those that are targeting gender identity or sexual orientation”.Ms Low emphasised how, after NIE, senior school staff work with the teachers in student management matters, as well as in “encouraging peer support amongst students”.\u00a0 She added: \u2018\u2019In the PSEis and schools, we have now percolated the peer support\u00a0group because sometimes it takes the best friend or close friends to approach the teacher and share observations that their friend is suffering.\u2019\u2019Yet in January 2021, a transgender student, who wanted to be known only as Ashlee, wrote a Reddit post detailing how the Education Ministry (MOE) had allegedly prevented her from receiving hormonal therapy to treat her gender dysphoria.\u00a0In response, a group of protestors demonstrated outside the Ministry building, waving placards that read “#FixSchoolsNotStudents” and “Trans students will not be erased”. The viral post and the conversations that ensued thereafter, including civil society debates, ministerial statements and a parliamentary response, surfaced the many issues young queer people encountered on a daily basis and threw into the spotlight how the Government treated transgender students.Room for improvementInclusion is essential for integration of LGBTQ students in school and education systems. (Photo source: Arizona Mirror)Ms Charlina G, a counsellor in a private school in Singapore, says counselling and student support staff in many schools here are \u201cmore aware about the LGBTQ+ community and more willing to reach out proactively to LGBTQ+ students\u201d when they face discrimination and threats of harm.\u201cBut I believe that more can be done, although I am grateful that at least baby steps are being made in the right direction. For example, more private spaces can and should be built for counselling of LGBTQ+ students as uncounselled students are more at risk for suicide, risky sexual behaviour, and being forced into silence about their sexual identities,\u201d she adds.Ms Karine Knox, a retired school counsellor in her 60s who has worked in the US and Canadian educational systems, says, \u201cIt is not clear how widespread the mental health and academic progress of LGBTQ+ students in Singapore is. But school and private counsellors should collaborate more frequently as the cross-conversations between the school and private environments can result in the blossoming of new and innovative community efforts to reach out to LGBTQ+ students.\u201dYouth worker Alex Teh from non-profit organisation Oogachaga says students\u2019 right to privacy with what they share in confidence should be kept private, unless requested otherwise.\u00a0\u201cJust because students are young, doesn\u2019t mean they are not capable of deciding what information needs to be kept private, especially when divulging this information may expose them to harm. Students will feel safer knowing their autonomy is respected,\u201d he adds.New Zealand\u2019s Ministry of Education publishes public guides on bullying in schools. The guides come with anecdotes and statistics on bullying that do not reveal any private information of individuals. They even include details on how bullying of LGBTQ+ students can be prevented.\u00a0Executive Director of Oogachaga Leow Yangfa says MOE can and should initiate conversations with the LGBTQ+ community stakeholders to better understand the issues faced by such students.\u00a0He adds, \u201cInclusive policies should be formulated to care for, protect and support queer students, and these policies should be made known to all.\u201dMs Charissa is aware of younger people who are more accepting and open to members of the LGBTQ+ community but acknowledges that there are also unhelpful segments of society.She says, \u201cThroughout my teenage years and early young adulthood, I was surrounded by the conservative church and Christian friends. My close friends were Christians, and they were not accepting.\u201d\u201cMy source of external support at a point mainly came from my clinical psychologist, who is obligated to be neutral in a professional capacity. I went through times when I felt all alone in this world and felt there was no one who understood, because I struggled with communicating with my family and friends and getting the support and validation that I needed from them,\u201d she adds.EmpowermentWhen former teacher Otto Fong came out as gay, once in his teens and later again when he was in his 30s, the initial conditions were anything but accepting.\u201cMy dad said to me, \u2018Everything you worked for will be ruined\u2019. ‘If I stayed in the closet, my whole life will be ruined,\u2019 I replied quite defiantly. I was also fed up with my partner and I becoming the invisible ones during reunion dinners,\u201d he says.In contrast to his family’s reaction, Mr Fong, who now lives and works in Thailand, saw how his students stood up for him when he revealed his sexuality.\u201c\u2018Anyone who gives Mr Fong any grief will answer to us,\u2019 said a group of my then-students to their classmates the weekend I came out publicly. The Head Prefect came to me in front of the whole school during flag raising the following Monday and shook my hand. For a teacher, that was probably the support that mattered the most,\u201d he says.Ms Charlina says there is a need to foster a space of inclusivity and safety that can begin with just acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ+ people.\u00a0\u201cFor instance, the teaching staff needs to adopt habits such as introducing themselves with their pronouns and encouraging students to do the same while using gender-inclusive language such as they and them,\u201d she says.\u201cTopics such as being allies, understanding the meaning of allyship, looking beyond the term multiculturalism and learning of minority issues that students face such as racism, disability and being queer can be discussed to get the students interested in issues beyond their own lives,\u201d she adds.Ms N. Natalie, a teacher in an independent school here and who does not want to use her real name because she is \u201cnot cleared to talk to the media\u201d, says that private and international schools seem to be more prepared to engage with LGBTQ+ students and teaching staff, primarily because their home countries and educational systems are better equipped to engage with the LGBTQ+ community.\u201cBut local schools here are taking serious steps towards setting aside their biases and working to engage with LGBTQ+ students, especially since 2021. The concerns about mental health and increased risk of suicide among students arising from the Covid-19 pandemic isolation has led to more awareness of how these mental health issues could lead to more severe effects among the LGBTQ+ students,\u201d she says.RELATED: The impact of not legalising same-sex marriageJoin the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia\u2019s\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram, and get the latest updates via\u00a0Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Respect for all: Every LGBTQ student matters, or do they?","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/respect-for-all-every-lgbtq-student-matters-or-do-they\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]