GayNZ.com
Improved acceptance and support for gay, lesbian, transgender and takataapui youth in the community is one of the aims of the Kaha Queer Youth Hui, to be held at Wellington?s Tapu Te Ranga Marae this weekend.
The hui is being run by the OUT THERE Youth Development Project, which aims to create communities that are safe and inclusive of sexuality and gender diversity. The project uses the word ?queer? as an umbrella term to encompass lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, fa’afafine, and takataapui identities.
Around 70 young gay, lesbian, takataapui and transgender community leaders from all over the country will attend the hui. ?Kaha is a tool to help build queer young people?s capacity to support themselves and each other in the communities they come from, especially schools where research shows queer youth to be particularly vulnerable,? Brown says. ?12.9% of non-heterosexual students are bullied at least once a week.?