GALE The Global Alliance for LGBT education
December 18, 2009 - On Wednesday, December 16th, an agreement was signed between the Government of the State of Sao Paulo and the Group E-young Teen Gays, Lesbians and Allies for the creation of LGBT Young School, the first of its kind in the country. The schools’ goal is using and disseminating LGBT culture in courses that are open to straight, gay and bisexual people starting in 2010. Coordinated by the group E-YOUNG the courses shold add value to the LGBT culture.
"The school is a Point of Culture. The fact that the courses are open to all and not only the gay youth is part of our strategy to combat homophobia" said Deco Ribeiro, appointed director of the School LGBT Youth. "Prejudice is ignorance. To overcome this, we take our art, our words and our speech to those who do not know us. If the appreciation of black culture is the strategy of the black movement, as well as various peoples and regions, why not enhance the LGBT culture? "
At the headquarters of the school in Campinas, boys and girls in the city and the regions of Sorocaba, São Paulo and Santos will have classes to create zines, creating magazines, creative writing, dance, music, TV, cinema, theater drag and performance, always focusing on the ways of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals and transgendered people. The material produced during the courses, such as CDs and DVDs, books and magazines, will be circulated, maintained and distributed for free by the state. Young people can compete for scholarships.
"To those who are discovering themselves now, it is important to know their roots," says Chesller Moreira, president of the E-couple. "And more importantly to know that you can be happy being who you are. The young LGBT people hear often that being gay is wrong that it is without positive references. Here they will be able to discover that being gay is cool, to be transvestite is legal, and that they have much to offer to society."
The entire project is funded by an agreement between the Government of the State of Sao Paulo and the Ministry of Culture, that aims to support organizations that develop relevant roles in the areas of promotion, distribution, production and cultural background. GROUP E-JOVEM was selected through a public tender and was the only LGBT organization contemplated in SP.
The registrations and applications for scholarships are now open and classes should begin in March 2010. Those interested should write to or call escola@e-jovem.com phones (19) 3307-3764 / 9341-3764.