Colonial cis-heteronormative power relations in schools work to exclude sex, gender and sexuality-diverse youth and furthermore, Indigenous sex, gender and sexuality-diverse youth (McGlashan, 2021). For these students, there are a multiplicity of factors that influence their sense of belonging and safety at school. For many, having belonging creates feelings of safety and inclusion, and ultimately enhances an individual’s mana (sense of self-worth). This belonging stems from connections to tupuna (ancestors) and whenua (land) and can be realised and affirmed in schools (Webber, 2023). Clark et al. (2020) found that the proportion of Aotearoa young people who reported belonging at school differed depending on their sexuality and gender. Approximately 9 out of 10 (87%) cisgender heterosexual students reported experiencing a sense of belonging at school, compared to 82% for same-sex and both-sex attracted young people, and only 70% of gender-diverse participants.

Ultimately, stress, distress and suicide risk are generally elevated among sex, gender and sexuality-diverse youth (Fenaughty et al., 2021; Lucassen et al., 2017). The risk of queer youth experiencing these factors is greater in schools which are not rainbow-friendly (Clark et al., 2020), and where bullying and oppression of sexual and gender-minority youth occur (Fenaughty et al., 2021). Risks may also be elevated among those with intersectional identities (Clark et al., 2020; Roy et al., 2021). The Youth2000 survey series, conducted by the Adolescent Health Research Group in Aoteaora, has gathered local and representative data from over 34,000 secondary school students between 2001 and 2019. Findings from the 2019 survey wave (N=7,891) highlighted that 36.3% of students reported that they belonged to more than one ethnic group (Clark et al., 2020). This demonstrates the prominence of intersectionality for the youth of Aotearoa and subsequently the greater need for an understanding of the heterogeneity of queer youth experiences.

As a key learning area within the health and physical education curriculum in Aotearoa, relationships and sexuality education is an optimum space for learning and inclusion of diverse and culturally informed understandings of sex, gender and sexuality. The refreshed Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) Guidelines (Ministry of Education, 2020) specifically focus on a range of intersectional identities and provide a useful framework for those working in schools (including but not limited to teachers, nurses and sexuality educators). Research continues to suggest however, that RSE should include more diverse subject matter to offer a variety of perspectives to all students and affirm and validate all identities (McGlashan-Fainu & Allen, 2024; Roy et al., 2021). While the RSE guidelines advocate for a strong connection between Indigenous knowledges, a gap remains between policy and practice (Le Grice & Braun, 2018; Veukiso-Ulugia et al., 2024). Youth voice has also been highlighted as a missing discourse within RSE policy and practice and indeed, youth perspectives are often understood within a Western colonial framework, with Indigenous knowledge, experience and understanding further marginalised (Le Grice & Braun, 2018).

In this presentation, I will privilege the voices of ākonga Māori (Māori students) who identify as takatāpui or sex, gender and sexuality diverse students by exploring the empirical findings of a research project underpinned by Kaupapa Māori methodologies (Smith, 2021). The students narratives highlight how relationships and sexuality education as a key learning area within Health and Physical Education, continues to privilege western, cis-heteronormative understands of relationships and sexuality. Drawing on decolonial (Pihama, 2010; Smith, 2000) and queer theory (Foucault, 1980), I share narratives and observations which demonstrate how students are embracing and embodying Indigenous understanding, knowledge, and concepts of relationships and sexuality to trouble and extend beyond Westernised cis-heterosexual norms.

This research draws on focus group hui and individual interviews, underpinned by Kaupapa Māori and decolonial theory and methodologies (Pihama, 2010; Smith, 2000) to explore the experiences of ākonga Māori who identify as takatāpui or sex, gender and sexuality diverse in relationships and sexuality education (RSE). Ākonga Māori who identified as takatāpui and/or sex, gender and/or sexuality diverse, aged between 16 - 18 years old were invited through purposive selection of schools in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). The schools were a mixture of kura kaupapa, public, private, single sex and socio-demographically diverse. 30 intersectional ākonga Māori engaged in six separate focus groups hui (conversations), five participants per hui. The hui drew on established Kaupapa Māori methodology (Smith, 2021), underpinned by tikanga Māori principles of relational ethic that privileged not only the development of relationships, but also the values of respect and reciprocity. Kōrero (talk/discussions) were co-constructed to identify strategic research priorities for ākonga Māori in relation to their experiences of curriculum based and school wide RSE. Following the hui participants were offered individual kōrero/interviews to share any further experiences and were asked for their whakaaro (thoughts) on future recommendations for RSE that is inclusive, culturally specific and meets the educational and healthcare needs of intersectional ākonga Māori. Kai (food) and refreshments were be provided during the individual kōrero/interviews and focus group hui. Hui and individual kōrero/interviews will be transcribed verbatim and the transcripts of each individual kōrero/interview were shared with participants to maintain relational ethic and validity. Thematic analysis was undertaken with the tools of decolonial theoretical frameworks (Pihama, 2010; Smith, 2000) and the Foucauldian analytical tools of knowledge, power and resistance (1980). Following the analyses of all focus group hui and individual transcripts a list of themes and recommendations were distributed to all participants for validation. Dissemination of outcoming publications and a report based on the experiences of, and recommendations for intersectional ākonga Māori in RSE will be shared in hui with invited stakeholders such as ākonga Māori, whānau, iwi, hapu, educational leaders and policy makers, teachers and health workers in schools.

Both national and international research has highlighted that Indigenous students and those who identify as sex, gender and/or sexuality diverse are often marginalised in school spaces (Laing, 2021; Mac an Ghaill, 2024; McCready, 2004; McGlashan-Fainu & Uasike Allen, 2024). This marginalisation is further enhanced in relationships and sexuality education due to colonial cis-heteronormative discourse which pervades RSE. Aotearoa however, has been recognised as one of the "few countries with a national curriculum document that references diverse gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation in the elementary years” (Fenaughty, 2019, p. 2; see also, Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2018; Fitzpatrick, 2018). Furthermore, the RSE guidelines in Aotearoa advocate for a strong connection between Indigenous knowledges and curriculum content. 30 ākonga Māori in this study, discussed their experiences in RSE as intersectional youth. Many of the narratives shared mirrored previous research highlighting the presence of colonial cis-heteronormative discourse and the influence this had on their mana, their feeling of belonging/inclusions and, for some, their safety. Other participants however, experienced RSE as a space where they could draw on their knowledge and embodied experience of culturally specific understandings of sex, gender and sexuality. In this sense, they sought productive forms of power by opening up and disseminating Indigenous and queer understandings of sex, gender and sexuality. This resistance to colonial norms surrounding relationships and sexuality highlights the need for an understanding of the complexities of intersectional subjectivities within RSE and schools more broadly. Ākonga in this research explicitly resisted the colonial cis-heteronormative discourse within their schools and re-instated their authentic Indigenous positions and in doing so, offered ways in which all people working within Western education systems can begin (and for some continue) to decolonise understandings of sex, gender and sexuality. I will share these offerings throughout this presentation.

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