This week read about Catholic schools in Canada standing up for LGBT students when the board voted to not fly Pride flags, and Erikas Malisauskas using homophobic tweets to raise money for LGBT groups in Lithuania.
Halton Catholic Schools Support LGBT Students After Board Denies Pride Flags
After the school board trustees voted on Monday not to fly the Pride banner at its schools in June, all nine high schools in the Halton Catholic School Board District wrote tweets of inclusion, equality, and diversity.
Kirsten Kelly, the Burlington student trustee on the board stated that the fight to fly the flag isn’t over yet.
According to CBC, Kelly started a petition to support flying the Pride flag that has gained over 18,000 signatures in a two-week span.
“They brought it up because many students don’t feel safe in their own school environments because of the homophobia and the transphobia from staff and students alike,” Kelly told CBC. “Having a Pride flag up would be a symbolic show of support from our Catholic community that shows that we care, we listen and we acknowledge you.”
Lithuanian Artist Uses Homophobic Tweets to Raise Funds for LGBT Groups
Photo of the project via www.neapykantosdebesis.It.
A Lithuanian artist has raised over $6,000 USD for LGBT groups by selling digital collages of homophobic messages that were sent to parliament members who campaign for gay rights.
According to Channel News Asia, these collages, created by Erikas Malisauskas, are made up of 400 offensive messages put together in the shape of a cloud.
The messages were intended for Tomas Raskevičius, a well-known figure in Lithuania and the first gay rights leader elected to parliament.
Though he isn’t a member of the LGBT community, Malisauskas was shocked by the degree of violence directed at Raskevičius and the LGBT community as a whole.
“My goal was to monetise the hate speech,” Malisauskas told Channel News Asia. “Now everyone who wrote the hateful messages to LGBT people has contributed money towards LGBT causes.”
