The Importance of Teaching Students about the LGBTQIA+ Community Educating students about discrimination and misrepresentation against people is important for those groups of people to be acknowledged, but education on LGBTQIA+ topics continues to be questioned. Despite the LGBTQIA+ community being officially recognized by the government for several years, individuals in the community still are not truly supported. For many years, there were laws against people who did not identify themselves as male or female or felt attraction to a sex other than the one opposite to theirs. Recently many countries have decriminalized same-sex attraction, legalized gay marriage, and instilled gender-affirming policies. Even though this change occurred, people …show more content…
In the article Teaching LGBTQ-inclusive Topics in the Classroom by Isabella Liang, it is shown that students are unable to learn about the LGBTQIA+ community, since “barriers such as school policies, lack of training, and parental resistance are preventing teachers from implementing teaching LGBTQ-inclusive topics in the classroom” (Liang). Students are left unaware of the existence of the LGBTQIA+ community, because of the opinions and control of those around them. Connections between students and teachers are important since it allows more communication and understanding for the student, so “when younger kids ask questions about LGBTQ-related questions, like, ‘Why does the family have two mommies?’ teachers then can have honest conversations with them” (Liang). Informing students about the community and allowing them to have honest conversations with teachers will enable them to be more understanding. Honest conversations help educate students instead of deceiving them and pretending that a whole group of people does not exist, thus ending bigotry and confusion among students in the future. It’s not just parents who have promoted hate and prejudice, but professionals as …show more content…
Though many believe that the LGBTQIA+ community has already obtained enough support and help, this shows how people continue to push away the idea of LGBTQIA+, causing them to be mistreated. The refusal to admit the existence of LGBTQIA+ topics causes pain to those in the community. If topics were better addressed and educated instead of pushed away, individuals would feel less pain and suffering due to confusion about their identity. Professionals are not the ones who would be able to better benefit society by being better educated about how to interact with LGBTQIA+ individuals, and education should extend to students as well. If education regarding LGBTQIA+ topics were not as taboo, students would interact with members of the community with less confusion and hatred, and with more understanding. The article, LGBTQ-Visibility and Integration in Elementary Schools, posted on GLSEN, states how LGBTQIA+ subjects are worthwhile since “LGBTQ-inclusion supports a student’s ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with a diverse group of peers, and encourages respect for all” (“LGBTQ-Visibility and Integration in Elementary
No one should have to be judged by what they want to be whether it is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or hetero-sexual we are all the same no matter what we feel on the inside. All most all schools say a girl cannot play a boy sport because they will get hurt; girls should be able to play whatever sport they want to know matter what the outcome may be. Also, every school has the rule no sexual relationship between teacher and students because they follow the rule of boundaries between teacher and student. Do you agree that students and teachers should not be able to date each other? Do you all agree that people should be allowed to date whoever they want? Do you hate feminism or do you agree with feminism? If we let these issues go with kids will continue to stay in the closet, never becoming who they truly are meant to be, and a teacher will hurt a
This article highlights the ways our school and district are failing these students. We proclaim to be an inclusive “place”, but truth be told we are only comfortable if you conform to our definition of “normal”. The article suggests that, at the elementary level, we can include literature that features different family structures as an introduction to acceptance of differences. Last year, our library had a picture book, And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins that were in a relationship and wanted to start a family like the other penguin couples. The minute the “content” was brought to our librarian’s attention, the book magically disappeared from the shelf. The issue was brought up before a faculty meeting, and the majority of the faculty agreed with the book being pulled from the shelf. The sad part is that we do have a couple of children within the school who have a family structure that resembles the characters in the book. I was lucky to grow up in a household that did not discriminate based on color, religion, socioeconomics, gender, or sexual orientation, but I learned quickly that my views are not similar to those of my peers. Here in South Mississippi, we are “behind the times” and not aligned with the rest of the nation when it comes to meeting the needs of LGBT students. How do we even attempt to close that gap when so many of the teachers and administrators do not agree with or believe in the “life style and choices of” LGBT
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals people make up more than ten percent of the population; that means if you are sitting in a classroom of thirty, then more than three of those people are LGBT individuals. However, this overwhelmingly large minority group continues to be one of the least protected by the government as well as most heavily targeted by discrimination and hate crimes. Regardless of the powerful shift in public opinion concerning LGBT individuals during the last twenty years, the laws concerning hate crimes have remained invariable.
Explaining how to challenge the discriminatory attitudes that remain rampant throughout the world, Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a recent article, quotes the incisive words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "We are all of equal worth, born equal in dignity and born free and for this reason deserving respect. . . . We belong in a world whose very structure, whose essence, is diversity almost bewildering in extent, and it is to live in a fool's paradise to ignore this basic fact."
Intersectionality is an analytical tool that can assist policy makers in creating programs and policies to help combat inequities on campus. Intersectionality explores new research and policy approaches to understand the connections between structures that shape diverse populations (Hankivsky, 2014). The acronym LGBT gives evidence that people who identity cannot be placed in a single category. Not only do they suffer injustices because of their sexual orientation, but also for their race, gender, ability, disability, and age. No written policy in higher education is without use of intersectionality framework. It is a necessity because of the diverse student body attending institutions of higher education. Intersectionality requires focus on points of intersection, complexity, dynamic processes, and the structures that define our access to rights and opportunities, rather than on defined categories or isolated issue areas (Symington,
I think I have grown tremendously in this class, not just because of the great talks that we have, rather the application of the things that we discuss in and even out of class. I find myself recognizing and putting my biases behind me. I find myself being more aware and more conscious of what is going on around me in terms of the people and what they 're saying. People have actually been surprised that I know so much as well. I have some friends in the LGBTQ+ community and last year I would always semi offend them with the words that I used such as tranny and faggot, because believe it or not, I had no idea that they were offensive because for me, I had always used them as a term of endearment and now I know so much more about the community
Gays in today’s society face many problems not only with the Media’s eyes, but also on college campuses. Young adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual experience major stresses in managing their sexual orientation.
After learning and reviewing the action continuum chart in this class it brought a specific quote to my mind, “if you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem,” while I was aware of other forms of oppression, I only really involved myself with topics and intervention tactics that dealt with racism and sexism, as these were the two areas directly affecting me and my life. One of the topics in this course that stood out to me was the discussion on transgender oppression, before coming to college, information about the transgender community and even sectors of the LGBTQ community was somewhat taboo to me..
Many teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans are often bullied by their peers. In 2013 a National School Climate Survey showed that seventy-one point four percent of LGBT students were called gay or other derogatory terms often, fifty-four point six percent also heard comments about not being masculine or feminine enough. Almost fifty-two percent of students reported even hearing homophobic statements from teachers or other school workers. Sixteen point five percent of students were also physically assaulted by other students because of their sexuality. Because of these events, LGBT students were three times more likely to miss school than non-LGBT students, had a lower GPA, and had higher levels of depression. A girl I knew in high school named Donna identified as bisexual and I often saw her being pushed around in the halls and called countless terrible names. This soon lead to her feeling bad about herself, becoming depressed, and even self-harming by cutting and burning her arms. Donna also had to drop out of school and start being homeschooled because of the amount of bullying she encountered on a daily basis. The Trevor Project is a LGBT supportive organization that focuses on bringing awareness to homosexuality in young people, works to provide support for youths that are questioning their sexuality or are depressed because of the effects of bullying, and to prevent suicide among these youths. The Trevor Project explains that LGBT youths are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youths of the same age. This organization also tells us that young people who come out to their families and are rejected by them are eight times more likely to attempt suicide than people who were not pushed away by their families. These numbers are not only alarming,
Goodwin, D. W. and Hill, S. Y. “SHORT-TERM MEMORY AND THE ALCOHOLIC BLACKOUT”. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1973); 215,195–199
The movie “It’s Elementary” does a great job showing the positivity reaction kids have to presenting LGBT issues in the school system. The documentary showed that all age groups can benefit from these lessons. For example, a heterosexual, 8th grade social studies teacher felt it was very important to teach his students to be respectful and not afraid of their sexuality. This teacher started his lesson by asking students to share stereotypes. He then related these stereotypes to LGBT issues. One student shared with the class that he uses slurs “out of ignorance”. This
Martino, Wayne, and Wendy Cumming-Potvin. "They Didn't Have 'Out There' Gay Parents--They Just Looked Like "Normal" Regular Parents": Investigating Teachers' Approaches To Addressing Same-Sex Parenting And Non-Normative Sexuality In The Elementary School Classroom." Curriculum Inquiry 41.4 (2011): 480-501. ERIC. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Baker, Jean M. How Homophobia Hurts Children: Nurturing Diversity at Home, at School, and in the Community. New York: Harrington Park, 2002. Print.
The LGBT community consists of those who consider themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The community is that of your students and your neighbors. They’re ages prime and odd with heights low and high. Microorganisms of innocence and a different air are born and so soon a subject of tribute to a bias life. For example, religion is predominantly introduced at a young age through upbringings and surroundings.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.