ball partners, uniforms, and anti-discrimination policies).308 Research suggests that sporting and physical education contexts can be some of the most unsafe environments for SOGIESCdiverse young people.309 This is related to the highly gendered and binary organisation of some sports, and the overt homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia pervasive in these spaces.310 In addition, there is a lack of relevant support groups and safe spaces within schools.311 Qualitative research on gay and bisexual Pasifika men’s experiences of school-based support services showed that participants wanted staff to do more to support them, such as undergo professional development in SOGIESC diversity, as well as cultural competency training for working with Pasifika students.312 All participants described the need for increased visibility and safe spaces in their school environments. In a recent report from the Education Review Office, some school boards stated that they “didn’t have any” students with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, or sex characteristics,313 despite extensive national and international research to the contrary.314 Such statements are usually used as an excuse to refrain from protecting students of diverse identities and to exclude content relevant to them.315 Where schools do have active support groups for SOGIESC-diverse students, research suggests that these can be both safe and empowering. In some schools, these groups engage in educating other students and teachers about SOGIESC diversity and inclusion.316 “SEXUAL EDUCATION IS ALL SUPER STRAIGHT AND NOT QUEER, TRANS, OR INTERSEX FRIENDLY. IT’S ‘CONDOM ON A BANANA,’ SHOWING PEOPLE VIDEOS FROM THE 1980s, OR GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHS OF GENITALIA WITH SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS.” The New Zealand Curriculum The Ministry of Education’s 2007 New Zealand Curriculum places emphasis on values, including diversity; requiring that students learn to respect themselves, others, and human rights.317 In 2015, the Ministry of Education published the Te Kete Ipurangi Guidelines, providing examples of good practice age-appropriate content that should be taught at each level of the school curriculum, from Year 1 to Year 13.318 The aim of the guidelines is to support the inclusion and wellbeing of students with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. The same year, the Ministry published a guide for principals, Boards of Trustees, and teachers regarding sexuality education.319 That guide outlines how schools should go about teaching Nine to Noon “Determinants for academic success among LGBT students” (podcast, 12 November 2019) Radio New Zealand <https://www.rnz.co.nz/> 309 Erik Denison and Alistair Kitchen “Out on the fields: The first international study on homophobia in sport” (Australian Sports Commission, Canberra, 2015). 310 Jaimie Veale and others Counting Ourselves: The health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa New Zealand (Transgender Health Research Lab, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 2019) at 66; InsideOUT “Making schools safer for trans and gender diverse youth” (2016) <www.insideout.org.nz> at 14. 311 Simon Denny and others “The association between supportive high school environments and depressive symptoms and suicidality among sexual minority students” (2014) 0 Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology p1. 312 Jono Selu “‘THIS TEA IS HOT!’ Pasifika gay & bisexual men’s experiences of school-based support services” (unpublished master’s thesis, University of Auckland, 2017). 313 Education Review Office Promoting wellbeing through sexuality education (Wellington, 2018) at 10. 314 Victor Madrigal-Borloz Report to the General Assembly by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity UN Doc A/74/181 (17 July 2019) at A; Mathijs Lucassen and others “Youth’12 The health and wellbeing of secondary school students in New Zealand: Results for young people attracted to the same sex or both sexes” (The University of Auckland, Auckland, 2014). 315 Education Review Office Promoting wellbeing through sexuality education (Wellington, 2018). 316 Hayley McGlashan and Katie Fitzpatrick “LGBTQ youth, activism, and school: Challenging sexuality and gender norms” (2017) 117 Health Education Journal p485. 317 Ministry of Education The New Zealand Curriculum (Wellington, 2007) at 10. 318 Ministry of Education Guide to LGBTIQA+ students (Wellington, 2015). 319 Ministry of Education Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees and Teachers (Wellington, 2015). 308 51