Laurelle Mellet, the mother of Troye Sivan, the Australian YouTube sensation who’s become a bonafide pop star in recent years, has issued an impassioned plea to Education Minister Simon Birmingham to reinstate Safe Schools funding.
Mellet has launched a petition on Change.org with the hope of returning funding to the program, which was devised to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, in addition to having it rolled out in every school in the country.
“My son Troye Sivan told us he was gay at 14. It made me nervous – I’d heard horrific stories of homophobic bullying and kids being suicidal at school. What’s worse is our education system won’t fight it – Malcolm Turnbull hasn’t renewed Safe Schools funding,” she writes.
“Gay teens are 14 times more likely to kill themselves in Australia. Despite this, most schools won’t opt in to the program unless it’s made compulsory – it’s frightening,” she continues.
“Troye was terrified but needn’t have been – his coming out video went viral and we couldn’t be prouder of him. But Troye was lucky. Thousands of gay teens battle aggressive intimidation, exclusion and even attempts of suicide.”
“To exclude anti-LGBTQI bullying programs from schools is beyond cruel. I’d like to think all parents would fight for a system that makes their child feel safe, not worthless.” At the time of writing, the petition needs just 684 more signatures to reach its goal of 5,000.
You can read Mellet’s impassioned and heartfelt plea in its entirety, as well as lending your own voice to the cause, via Change.org here.
