On the occasion of the World Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, this Tuesday, May 17, the Lycée Hippolyte Fontaine organized a day “All different, all equal” in which the rector Pierre N’Gahane and the Deputy Mayor of Dijon Christophe Berthier.

In 1995, the Council of Europe launched the “All different, all equal” campaign aimed at young people in order to combat racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and intolerance. The campaign focuses on cultural diversity, human rights and youth participation to promote ‘active citizenship’.

Within this broad framework of the fight against xenophobia, there is also the fight against homophobia and transphobia, for which the NGO Comité IDAHO activated in 2005 May 17 as World Day. The date was chosen in reference to May 17, 1990, the day the WHO decided to no longer consider homosexuality a mental illness.

“All different, all equal” day at Hippolyte Fontaine

To mark this date, the Hippolyte Fontaine high school organized this Tuesday, May 17, 2022 a day “All different, all equal” with an associative village in the green areas of the site and a theater-forum in the large hall.

Welcomed by Lionel Pinard, headmaster of the Hippolyte Fontaine high school, and Karine Cascan, deputy headmaster, Pierre N’Gahane, rector of the Dijon academy, Pascale Coq, academic director of the national education services in Côte-d’Or, and Christophe Berthier (PS), deputy mayor of Dijon in charge of the fight against discrimination, came to discuss with the educational team and with the students.

“The school must take up this issue of the fight against discrimination”

Having taken office on March 21 (read our article), the new rector of the Dijon Academy, Pierre N’Gahane, recalled the objective of the Minister of National Education “who wanted this day of May 17 to be devoted to this theme ‘All different, all equal ‘, a day to fight against discrimination of any kind: gender, social…”.

The ambition being “to create a moment of gathering, of cohesion in our establishments and, in particular, in our high schools” because “the school is part of society and everything is built precisely at school”

“We are all different but we are full citizens, we are all equal in this perspective, this training in citizenship, it is done primarily at school, that’s why school, although course, must take up this issue of the fight against discrimination”, the rector determined, “it is through school, high school, college, that we must erase these differences”.

“Thirty situations related to LGBT phobias” in 2021-2022

“These issues are taken very seriously in terms of prevention, there are referents, but also in terms of the fight. We don’t let anything pass”, insisted Pierre N’Gahane, indicating that, throughout the Dijon academy, “around thirty situations linked to LGBT phobias” have been reported, some cases may be the subject of legal proceedings.

“Our society is evolving, these are subjects that we no longer hide, that we reveal. Violence against women is increasingly revealed, which is a good thing. Because we are aware of this phenomenon, we can find ways to fight, especially prevention, “analyzed the rector.

No rainbow flag but multicolored balloons

While establishments of the Dijon Academy, such as the Lamartine high school in Mâcon (read our article), chose to celebrate the day with rainbow flags, Lycée Hippolyte Fontaine opted for a “festive” but discreet format with a decoration made of multicolored balloons and pennants.

Among the structures present in the village, we find Les Yeux en promenade, the League for Human Rights, the League for Education, the PEP, SOS Refoulement, Amnesty International and Femme Égalité Emploi.

“Awakening awareness towards the acceptance of difference”

“We didn’t want to target the fight against homophobia, we wanted to integrate the fight against all forms of discrimination so that young people are more sensitive,” explained headmaster Lionel Pinard.

“It’s a whole: the more we will raise awareness towards the acceptance of difference, the more we will go towards a better world”, he added. “It is the role of the school, it is not only to teach, it is also to raise awareness, to open our eyes to difference and to ensure that everyone can accept the “other and that everyone lives their difference in complete freedom”.

The principal indicated that he had observed a “positive evolution” in the mentalities of the pupils: “young people are increasingly accepting difference”.

500 second-grade students educated

It was the school’s first major action since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. Each second class of the general and technological pathways was assigned an assigned time to go and ask questions on the stands.

More than 500 second-year students have been sensitized in this way. In addition, during break times, the village was accessible to all high school students.

In addition, the Council of Delegates for High School Life has launched an action encouraging people to wear mismatched socks or shoes.

The action also took place with agents of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional council. Thus, packed lunches were offered to students to allow them to have lunch outside the canteen, on the school site where waste sorting devices have been installed.

The project to raise awareness of violence against women carried out in June 2020 with photographer Alexis Doré was exhibited near the village of associations (read our article).

“Anchoring of a passive LGBT-phobia within our high schools”

At the same time as the visits to the village, the pupils were able to take part in theater-forum sessions led by the actors Benjamin Meneghini, artist associated with the theater company Les Toupies d’Agrado, and Jeanne Piponnier.

“For five or six years, I have been working on gender equality, discrimination in employment, and for a few years, I have felt that young people increasingly want and need to talk about sexual orientation. and gender identity, so I decided to adapt some content,” said Benjamin Meneghini.

Beforehand, the students of the CVL of the high school read a text written by other students of the academic council of high school life on the social pressure felt by LGBT people by referring to the Observatory of LGBT-phobias of the Foundation Jean Jaurès (find the results of the survey).

The students thus wished to denounce “the anchoring of a passive LGBT-phobia within our high schools” before highlighting the possible accompaniments: the nursing staff of the establishments, the psychologists of the National Education and the association SOS Homophobia.

National Education offers listening and support services for victims and witnesses of homophobia and transphobia (find the numbers on the ministry’s website).

“Let’s stop normalizing problematic behavior in society”

“It’s time to act, let’s not leave the victims alone”, launched the students, encouraging their comrades to contact their school CVL to allow awareness-raising actions to take place: “Let’s stop normalizing and minimizing problematic behavior in society, let us all be aware of the scope of our actions”.

After this first “day of celebration”, according to the headmaster, the objective is now to renew the action each year to “bring it up”.

Jean-Christophe Tardivon