YouTube panel to tackle bullying at National Student Pride 2017
By Will Stroude
With National Student Pride less than a month away, the topic of this year’s YouTube panel discussion has been announced, along with the social media stars who’ll be sharing their thoughts and advice on the day.
Organisers have revealed that this year’s panel discussion, which is set to take place on the afternoon of Saturday February 25 at the University of Westminster in London, will focus on bullying and the power of YouTube as a support network for vulnerable LGBT youth.
YouTube star Riyadh Khalaf returns this year to host. Joining him will be trans activists and non-binary couple Fox and Owl, as well as long-distance couple Saskia and Lily.
Despite steps forward in legal equality for LGBTQ people, life for many adolescents remains marred by bullying, rejection, and mental health issues.
According to National Student Pride, a recent survey of 7,000 16 to 24 year-olds found that 54% of young LGBT people reported either self-harming now or at some point in the past.
Fox Fisher, who you may recognising from Channel 4’s groundbreaking 2011 series My Transexual Summer series, now runs a Youtube channel with partner Owl where they share their own experiences of being transgender and non-binary.
Discussing their place on this year’s panel, the couple said: “YouTube is a platform for all sorts of people to sprout opinions. It’s important to talk about the effects of ‘putting yourself out there’ and how the connections and community outweighs nasty trolling.
“YouTube has been instrumental to many people transitioning, including myself. I watched so many videos on medical and social transitioning before I took the leap.”
Now in its 13th year, National Student Pride began at Oxford Brookes University in 2005, in response to a Christian Union talk on homosexuality and the Bible.
A full weekend of events is planned in London over the weekend of 24-26 February, and you can find out more details and get your hands on tickets for just £5 here.
To find out more about this year’s YouTube panellists, check out National Student Pride’s latest podcast featuring Fox and Owl below:
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