"There are reasons why teachers and administrators are reluctant to adopt schoolwide approaches that open up discussions of LGBTQ rights and homophobia. We worry about backlash from parents. As the movement has developed pasts its early "gay liberation" beginnings, it has become more complex; teachers who felt comfortable talking about lesbians and gay men need to wrap their hearts and minds around transgender issues and challenges to the socially constructed gender binary." I feel there is a lot of meaning behind this passage from Queering Our Schools, in our society as a whole (at least here in the U.S.) we are much more aware and seemingly accepting of LGBTQ folks and movement, but when it comes to incorporation into schools and curriculum, it is understandable why school districts have been slower going with "acceptance", it is simply easier to gloss over the issue and maintain the status quo. Maybe they're not saying anything against LGBTQ, but they are also not doing anything to promote understanding and acceptance either. "Community is built by working through differences, not sweeping them under the rug". This text speaks to the importance of incorporating education regarding LBGTQ in promoting acceptance, because with understanding comes acceptance. This can be related to racial issues we have discussed in a previous weeks text, Colorblindness Is The New Racism (Armstrong & Wildman), in which it is discussed how many white people feel they are not being racist because they just do not acknowledge race, but according to Armstrong and Wildman, that is not really true, that there is privilege associated with being white, just as there is privilege associated straightness, binary gender roles, and having gender expression that is consistent with biological and assigned sex at birth.
I think as younger generations enter the teaching profession, the more inclusivity and acceptance of the LGBTQ community happens. For example, growing up, my parents had several gay and lesbian friends. I grew up with an understanding and acceptance that love and relationships were not exclusively between men and women, it was a very normal concept for me and for most of my peers, but, for example, for my grandparents, they were very uncomfortable with the idea of these relationships being so "open". Of course there was same-sex relationships in their youth, but it was closeted, something to be kept a secret, it was uncomfortable for them to experience such openness of these relationships. Between my grandparents and parents generation, the gay liberation movement had really made an impact, so by the time of my childhood, as least in my experience, the adults around me were very open and accepting of same-sex relationships. Now, as Queering in Our Schools states " the movement has developed pasts its early "gay liberation" beginnings" and we are now addressing "transgender issues and challenges to the socially constructed gender binary". I did not grow up talking about these issues, it was not until in my undergraduate program I took an introduction to Gender and Women's Studies course which really did open my eyes to the concept that gender is really a social construct (here is a great brief clip that gives a little explanation into this), which truly enabled me to have a different outlook and better understanding of those who are transgender or gender non-conforming, and what that truly means. I have found that it has been much easier for me to understand and be accepting of these issues and challenges than those of my parents generation, just as it was much easier for them than it was for my grandparents generation to accept and embrace same-sex relationships.
"A social justice frame demands an approach to curriculum that integrates queer people - their problems, history, struggles, and contributions - into day-to-day curriculum, K-12, across the subject areas". Addressing, educating, and incorporating content regarding LGBTQ into curriculum and academics fosters understanding and acceptance. The read-aloud book that we watched this week They, She, He Easy as ABC is a wonderful example of a way these things can be taught to children in a non-forceful, safe way. Even if students maybe do not know or see anyone personally that they can relate the information too, they are being introduced the idea at an early age that helps them to be accepting, understanding and compassionate when the time comes. In upper grades, learning those basic, introductory tenets of gender studies, like the ones I learned in my GWS course (and also explained in the RIDE Guidance for RI Schools on Transgender and Nonconforming Students) can be so helpful in navigating in society - people are often afraid of what they don't understand.
