B.C. youth wants to start anew in Kamloops after homophobic bullying in Barriere

UPDATEAug. 25, 2023: Destiny Paul and Sitarah Bukshsaythey intend to stay at Barriere Secondary School for the upcoming academic year, which begins in September. This decision comes after they received support and solidarity from the local community in response to CBC's coverage of their ordeal with homophobic bullying at the school.

They also say theyplanto participate in the Kamloops Pride Parade on Aug.27. Paul's mother, Starrlyn Muzyka, says she has talked to the school's principal following CBC's coverage, andif the bullying situation doesn't show signs of improvement, she and her daughter could still consider relocating to Kamloops.

Daybreak Kamloops5:17Barriere teens are set to attend Kamloops Pride for the first time, feel support from community after homophobic bullying at school

Destiny Paul and her girlfriend, Sitarah Buksh, both students at Barriere Secondary School, spoke to Shelley Joyce about the support they had received from the local community after the homophobic bullying they encountered at school became known to a wider audience with a CBC article published earlier this week.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW:

Destiny Paul came out as gay in March and has since been dating a girlfriend in Barriere, B.C., but she says she didn't anticipate it would result in a barrage of abuse from her school peers.

"[There's] definitely name-calling. There [have] been times where my girlfriend and I were pushed [and] accidentally bumped into we've had threats about hurting us," Paul, 15, told host Shelley Joyce of CBC's Daybreak Kamloops about her encounter with a group of male students at Barriere Secondary School.

Paul says she initially brushed off the abuse and didn't think about reporting it to her mother and the school principal, but she saysher silence led to the situation escalating.

Sitarah Buksh, Paul's girlfriend, sayshomophobic and misogynistic slurs began to appearas graffiti in a park in Barriere.

"It's honestly just a really bad level of disrespect I don't know how somebody could go and write that about people, especially in a public place," Buksh toldDaybreak Kamloops.

Paul says the boys, who she says she thinks were in Grade10 or11, even made threats to burn down her house and sent her Snapchat messages featuring a fake gun.

She says these incidents had a profound impact on her mental health.

"I've had depression, anxiety [and] serious anger issues. I have to take so much medication. I don't even want to go back to school.

"It makes me feel like absolute shit, honestly. It feels like I'm not a part of the community anymore," she said.

Plan to move to Kamloops

Homophobia in Canadian schools hasn't significantly improved over the past decade, according to Egale Canada, a national LGBTQadvocacy group.

A report published by the organization in 2021 indicated that 62 per cent of LGBTQstudents surveyed feel unsafe at school, a marginal decrease of two per cent from a similar report in 2011.

Paul says she reported the abuse to the school principal multiple times but to no avail.

"He would tell me, 'I'll deal with it later in the day when I'm not busy,' and the next day the same kids will come to school and do the same thing.

"It's not gonna stop unless someone actually does something," she said.

To escape the bullies, Paul resorted to being home-schooled for several months and is planning to move to Kamloops for the next school year along with her mother.

"I would feel much more comfortable in Kamloops because there [are] so many more people [who] are part of our [LGBTQ+] community than in Barriere," she said.

Barriere, a community offewer than 1,800 residents, is about 64 kilometres north of Kamloops.

Starrlyn Muzyka, Paul's mother, says she reported the Snapchat threat against her daughter to the RCMP and, after lengthy consideration,decided to put their house up for sale in preparation for the move.

"I've talked to parents.I've communicated with this school numerous times nobody seems to want to help us.

"It just continues, and it seems to get worse, and then it gets better, and then it gets worse again it's just a never-ending cycle. It's really hard to watch my daughter struggle," she toldDaybreak Kamloops.

In an emailed statement to CBC News,the B.C. RCMP confirmed ithad received a report of harassment from Muzyka last Maybut did not provide furtherdetails about the outcome of its investigation.

School district vows to seriously investigate bullying

Rhonda Nixon, the superintendent of the Kamloops-Thompson School District, which oversees schools in Kamloops and neighbouring areas, including Barriere,saidthe reports of abuse would be investigated.

Nixon also saidthe school district has an assistant superintendent in charge of promoting an inclusive environment for LGBTQstudents.

"We take part in the Pride parade. We celebrate diversity. We have a diversity calendar where we actually make sure that we celebrate what happens with all of our students who are diverse," she said.

Ashton O'Brien with the Kamloops Pride Society, which is organizing Pride Week events for Aug. 21-27, contacted Muzyka to offer support, including guidance on documenting instances of bullying.

"I honestly wish that it was an isolated thing, but it isn't I know that it is something that some students do struggle with."

O'Brien says that the Kamloops Pride Society plans to discuss with the school district how to better support LGBTQ students in Barriere.