Quebec adolescents are experiencing increasing unease with regard to sexual diversity, worries the Social Research and Intervention Group (GRIS-Montreal), which came to this conclusion following a vast survey carried out in five regions of Quebec.
The organization had suspected for several years that the “school climate was deteriorating”. The extent of his findings still took him by surprise, GRIS-Montreal having noted, in a few years, “a clear decline in the level of comfort of young Quebecers with sexual diversity” who does not seem to want to slow down, declared Thursday morning its general director, Marie Houzeau, during a press conference in Longueuil.
The organization revealed for the occasion the results of an analysis based on 35,705 questionnaires completed between the 2017-2018 and 2023-2024 school years by young people from secondary schools located in five regions of the province, namely Montreal, Estrie, Quebec, Mauricie and Chaudière-Appalaches.
“The objective of all this is to get them to project themselves into scenarios in which these students could be around non-heterosexual or non-cisgender people and to question them on what feelings that might generate,” explained Thursday the director of research at GRIS-Montreal, Gabrielle Richard.
Persistent stereotypes
Thousands of students were asked to express the level of comfort with which they would welcome certain situations in which they would be around members of the LGBTQ+ community.
This allowed the organization to notice an increase, in particular, in students who would be uncomfortable or “very uncomfortable” if they learned that their best friend was a lesbian.
This percentage increased from 15.2% to 33.8%, between 2017 and 2024. “We note that the rate of discomfort has more than doubled in recent years,” noted Mme Richard, while specifying that young men generally reported greater discomfort than adolescent girls regarding sexual diversity. However, growing unease is also noted among the young women surveyed.
The percentage of young people who would be “uncomfortable” if they learned that “their best friend is gay” reached 40.4% last year. It stood at 24.7% seven years earlier.
This is the first time that the organization, founded in 1994, has noted a decline among young Quebecers in their level of comfort with sexual diversity. Before 2017, this level of comfort had been on the rise for years.
“When these figures came to my attention, I was stunned. Maybe because I live in a bubble, but I believed that young people today were more open, more inclusive and more accepting than I could be when I was in high school, the president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec, Mélanie Laviolette, presents at this press conference. But today, we realize that this is perhaps not the case, that there are prejudices that persist among our young people and stereotypes that resurface. »
This “worrying” increase was notably attributed on Thursday to the growing popularity of social networks among young people, where conservative and masculinist discourses circulate extensively, noted Marie Houzeau.
“Awareness” and “immediate actions” requested
Data collected by GRIS-Montréal also shows that twice as many Quebec students are uncomfortable today than they were in 2017 when faced with the assertion that “two men in a relationship have the right to start a family and raise children.
However, since 2002, in Quebec, same-sex couples have been allowed to form a civil union, recalled Mr.me Richard, who notes that the level of discomfort among young people regarding lesbian parenthood “has tripled” in recent years.
Gabrielle Richard also clarified that, even if the data presented Thursday does not relate to transgender people, the GRIS-Montreal analysis also notes a growing unease towards them on the part of young Quebecers.
In this context, Marie Houzeau on Thursday urged Quebec to include “awareness of LGBTQ+ realities in mandatory sexuality education content and to ensure that these are taught by competent people.”
“Unfortunately, the figures we share with you this morning are unequivocal and call for awareness and immediate action in order to preserve these gains,” she said.
Mélanie Laviolette, for her part, asked parents to listen to their young people, to make them aware of the repercussions that their words can have and of the importance of respecting members of sexual minorities.
“Let us take our responsibilities to ensure that our children can grow up in respectful living and learning environments,” she argued.
Joined by Dutythe office of the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, also responsible for the fight against homophobia and transphobia, said it was concerned about this “rise in intolerance” in our schools, especially that the government announced in December 2023 an investment of $24.7 million over five years in the fight against homophobia and transphobia in the province.
“There is still work to be done,” recognizes M’s officeme Biron, who recalls that “hate speech has no place” in Quebec.
The office of the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, for its part, said it wanted to “take the time” to analyze this study, of which it said it was “concerned” by the findings.
“What is certain is that gestures of intolerance have no place in our schools. We must never accept that,” adds the statement sent to Duty.
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