Students
of education have a duty to discuss not only racial diversity and
cultural diversity but sexual diversity, and all the for the same
reasons. Just as a classroom will be ethnically and culturally
diverse it will be sexually diverse. Some might argue that young
children are not sexually aware yet and therefore do not count in
this regard, and that is incorrect. Children raised in families or
with family friends of diverse sexual orientations or gender
identities are part of this sexually diverse group.
Why
does this even matter in a classroom that is not “sex education”,
like Language Arts or History? Bullying, for one. Bullying, whether
physical or indirect in the form of threats, shunning, or rumors, can
leave emotional scarring and hinder a students emotional and academic
progress. Epithets like “fag” or “dyke”, “queer” and
insulting phrases like “that's so gay” or “no homo” place
non-heterosexual orientation in a negative and deviant light. It
gives unspoken credence to the incorrect assumption that
non-heterosexual orientation is itself deviant, perverse, or even
chosen out of rebellion. This way of thinking is called
“heterosexism”. Homophobia is the common term usually used for
attitudes of perceiving non-heterosexuality as negative and is used
when these attitudes manifest in outward expressions in bullying,
prejudicial acts, and intolerance. The term has also been applied to
those who disdain people with non-traditional gender identities,
though gender identity is not strictly related to sexual orientation.
Teachers
often find themselves in loco parentis as students come to
them for help with peer relationships. Sometimes these are negative
relationships where one student is being bullied by another. In some
rare occasions the students may seek guidance from a teacher about
romantic relationships, especially if the student feels they cannot
approach their friends or parents. How a teacher handles occasions of
homophobia can impact a student for life.
First,
one hopes that a teacher has the education and happiness of their
students in mind and would bring little to no gender,
gender-identity, or sexuality bias into the classrooms themselves.
Joining in with students who are laughing or joking in a heterosexist
way can even further isolate and alienate students who are LGBTQA
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, [straight]-ally) or
those have LGBTQA friends and family.
Second,
teachers must be mindful of the signs of bullying or intolerance and
do their best to put a stop to it. Obviously students using epithets
in class would be told to curb their language, but teachers must also
mind phrases like “that's so gay”. This seemingly simple phrase
is perhaps more offensive because it is so simple and widely
accepted. Would a teacher turn a deaf ear to comments like “that's
so black”, “don't be a Jew”, or “he's being retarded”? No!
Those phrases are offensive and used to insult the student and
members of those communities by insinuating they are are negative
themselves! Then it is neither acceptable to allow “gay” or
“homosexual” to be an insult. No one uses “heterosexual” as
an insult.
Non-Heterosexuals
and people with non-traditional gender-identity exist. They are
students in our school and their friends and family are friends in
our schools. They deserve the same education, protection, and
guidance as any other student.
My
college Diversity class listed an amazing list of resources, and I
would like to share my favorites with you.
TheYoungTurks - Fox
News Bias On Gay Rights In Public Schools
- Bullying (broad term!)
- "Joking" heterosexist comments or insults. ("so gay" etc.)
- Housing discrimination.
- Family planning & adoption discrimination.
- Negative/Harmful stereotypes in the media. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-07-11-glaad-bruno_N.htm
- Gender/sexuality 'correction' counseling (which are usually abusive and dangerous). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/13/fight-against-gay-convers_n_1513043.html
- Genderization of toys and stigmatizing those who play with "wrong" gendered toys. http://www.queerty.com/what-does-dr-phil-think-parents-should-do-when-their-sons-play-with-barbies-take-away-the-barbies-20110205/
- Physical violence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard
- Vandalism (of objects owned or frequented by LGBTQA).
- Misinformation
and Miseducation that "only gays" get certain diseases
(HIV). (You don't need a link here, it's a virus, and viruses don't
care what sexuality/gender you are).
