Gay kids on '3rd Degree' tonight

13 Feb 2007- South Africa- On Tuesday night '3rd Degree' on e.tv investigates the victimisation of young gay and lesbian learners in high schools.

School kids speak openly of their experiences of being young and gay in South Africa, and according to producers "the outcome is frank and shocking: many South Africans are still blatantly intolerant."

OK. Whoa, Nelly. Back up a bit here.

Firstly: since when did kids - gay or otherwise - go talking about their sexual orientation on national television?

Shouldn't they be doing their homework, or studying for exams, or hiding their siblings' shoes?

Secondly: what on Earth is "shocking" about the fact that South Africans are intolerant? Aren't we the very nation that invented the concept of intolerance? Show us one single country in the world where gay and lesbian folks of all ages aren't victimised, and you realise that there's nothing shocking about it at all. Sad - yes. Shocking? Come on.

3rd Degree is using research conducted by the gay organisation, OUT, in collaboration with the Department of Education, which claims homosexual people experience victimization and bullying at a young age whilst still at school.

No! Really? We wonder if OUT is aware of the fact that heterosexual children are also bullied and victimised, for reasons ranging from social status to the wrong colour shoes.

The Department of Education recently announced they were considering introducing discussions on homosexuality as part of life orientation skills in Gauteng schools.

Although that particular discussion is still ongoing (and will be for a long time, we predict), '3rd Degree' decided to find out just how everyone feels about it in tonight's episode, entitled 'Coming Out'.

If you want to catch all the fuss, tune into 3rd Degree on e.tv tonight (Tuesday 13 February) at 20h00.

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