SOGI 123 reduces bullying, discrimination, UBC researchers say

New research is showing the positive impact SOGI 123 or sexual orientation and gender identity resources are having in schools across British Columbia.

The report is called “'Students feel safer here, and more included': Evaluation of SOGI 123 in B.C.,” and was led by researchers at the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre at the University of British Columbia’s School of Nursing. 

Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, a UBC professor and executive director of the center, said SOGI is effective in reducing discrimination and creating a more inclusive educational environment.

“The longer SOGI 123 was in schools, we saw reductions in things like verbal harassment and social exclusion – that is, excluding people on purpose – physical assault in schools, as well as sexual orientation discrimination or discrimination because people thought you were gay, lesbian or bisexual,” she said.

Declining rates of discrimination weren’t only felt amount 2SLGBTQ youth, according to Saewyc.

“That impact across the entire school, of course, affects the largest group in the school, which would be heterosexual students,” she said.

'10-year evidence'

It’s one of the largest evaluations to date on SOGI. The team looked at a decades’ worth of data from the B.C. Adolescent Health Survey. It included 482 schools in 55 out of 60 school districts, and nearly 100,000 young people in Grades 7 through 12.

“We've now got 10-year evidence that it works,” Saewyc said. “It makes a difference, and wouldn't we want to use all of the strategies that we know make a difference?”

SOGI is a set of strategies designed with evidence by expert educators and approved by the province. 

Annie Ohana, the Indigenous department head at Surrey's L.A. Matheson Secondary School, said since SOGI was introduced in 2016, she’s seen positive progress.

“What we see is that by having these resources, we are actually setting up a school environment that is safe for every single student,” Ohana said.

'It is not sexual education'

SOGI has been widely misrepresented as its own curriculum, with some believing it to be propaganda, igniting dozens of protests against it across the country.

“It is not sexual education,” Ohana said. “It is not a rammed-down-your-throat ideology. It is very simply the idea that a lot of different resources need to be used so that all of our students feel welcome.”

The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The UBC team used an analytical technique called "Site-level Longitudinal Effects of Population Health Interventions," or SLEPHI.