Educate in diversity (A26-EN)

This activity is intended to be developed by high-school teachers in class and focuses on detecting and avoiding homophobic, biphobic and, transphobic attitudes, expressions and behaviours in teenagers and young people (bullying and cyberbullying).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), homophobia, biphobia, transphobia

The main objective of this activity is to fight against LGBTI-phobia from an educational sphere:

• To detect and avoid homophobic, biphobic and, transphobic attitudes, expressions and behaviours, such as bullying and cyberbullying.

Trainer (high- school teachers), teenagers and young people (students)

It is essential to speak about sexual diversity and to educate in the respect to the sexual orientation of each person in the school and the high-school, and to fight against the discrimination and the LGBTI-phobia. During the activity students will develop a small theatrical performance in which the teacher act as a theatre director and each student, in smalls groups of 8-10 participants, plays a role –gay, lesbian, transsexual, bisexual, heterosexual, fathers, mothers, teachers, friends, schoolmates…-.  The role of each person can be chosen by the students or be assigned by the teacher. The act script must be developed previously by the students with the guidance of the teacher.

The play has two different endings of the same story: a girl or a boy tells his/her family and their social environment that she/he is lesbian/gay, transsexual, bisexual, intersex, or heterosexual and she/he receives two responses –in two acts-. In the first case, the response of their family and social environment is negative (discrimination, isolation, insults, bullying, cyberbullying…) and the girl or boy feels misunderstood and suffers great sorrow. (The objective of this first act is that the spectators –the other students- understand the emotional suffering and to develop the empathy). In the second case, the response of their family and social environment is positive and the boy or girl feels great happiness because he/she is respected and understood.

Coloured lights for the lighting to the scene: dark for the first case (negative response) and bright lights for the second case (positive response)

Copyright-free music: sad and melancholic for the first case (negative response) and cheerful for the second case (positive response)

Role-play (each person must adopt a role in the group). The teacher is the theatre director and the students are the theatre actors.

This activity is must be conducted in a small group of 8-10 participants, on a rotational basis, and the other students will be the spectators. The estimated duration of the activity is 120 minutes, in two sessions: preparation of the acting script (60 minutes) and the preparation and development of the theatre play (60 minutes).

UMA, María Purificación Subires Mancera