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Words: Jessica WangProducer: Issey Gogoll
Ex student sets blazer alight to protest school’s ‘toxic’ culture
“
Who in this class wants to know what
SLEEP WITH A WOMAN
SLEEP WITH A WOMAN
 it’s like to 
who’s slept with multiple men before?
Former student James Robinson remembers a teacher asking this question during a sex education class at St Kevin’s College – a private boys’ school in Toorak, Melbourne. 
Source: YouTube/TEDx Talks 
The New York-based photographer was forcibly “outed” by an older student, bullied for his sexuality and left unsupported by teachers. A traumatic event that left him suicidal at 15.
Recently, the 26-year-old has made global headlines after breaking into his former school and setting his old blazer alight in protest against the school's alleged “toxic, sexist, homophobic and transphobic” culture. 
“
I burn my blazer not in anger, but in hope for regeneration.
I burn my blazer not in anger, but in hope for regeneration.
- James Robinson
- James Robinson
“
I kiss my partner not in spite, but to bring love back to the only place that ever taught me shame.
I kiss my partner not in spite, but to bring love back to the only place that ever taught me shame.
- James Robinson
- James Robinson
Mr Robinson said St Kevin’s “is a bubble where privileged young men can rehearse oppression without consequence, before graduating with flying colours into public.” The former student noted it was a place “where ‘locker room talk’ exists openly in hallways and classrooms.”
Mr Robinson dedicated the photos to “current students and victims of St Kevin’s, and schools like it, who feel their identity is slowly being chipped away by a hyper-masculine culture”.
No stranger to controversies, St Kevin’s has taken several hits to its reputation over the past few years, including an incident in 2019, where uniformed students were filmed performing a sexist chant on a Melbourne tram.
Source: YouTube/ABC
Since sharing his powerful photo series, Mr Robinson has received several messages from current and former students, telling him about similar experiences.
“I shiver at the thought of a reality where I never broke through the shame of that culture and found my queerness. Thanks for sharing, it moved me deeply.”
“I was told by staff to reconsider coming out until I was 40 and married with children.”
“It became dangerous to stay there and I had to leave six weeks into Year 12.”
In the aftermath of Mr Robinson’s viral post, St Kevin’s new principal Deborah Barker sent a letter to parents and students which commended him for speaking out.
Ms Barker is the school’s first ever female principal. A change in leadership is exactly what the school needed, Mr Robinson says. 
Mr Robinson says the “elitism from the school comes from parents, it comes from money, it comes from years of history, and it comes from the church.”
“
The school needs to start listening to the experiences of current and former students and not prioritising reputation.
The school needs to start listening to the experiences of current and former students and not prioritising reputation.
- James Robinson
- James Robinson
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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/web-stories/free/news-com-au/ex-st-kevins-student-james-robinson-sets-blazer-alight-to-protest-toxic-culture