LGBTQ+ in Classrooms
Just like Spiderman said in Captain America: Civil War, “Hey everyone”! So recently I was reading around about LGBTQ in our classrooms, specifically the junior high and high school classroom. Whether you are in junior high, high school, or maybe just graduated you know that in your classrooms the issues of the LGBTQ community were rarely mentioned or maybe not even mentioned at all! Shocker, right?? Why shouldn’t all students know about the history and issues of people who are LGBTQ? While I was browsing the endless possibilities for articles, I came across a PDF written by the GLSEN. For those of you who aren’t familiar with GLSEN, they are an organization that’s meant to make schools safe for 6-12th graders. They even do cool events for LGBTQ kids and their allies, I’ve been to this cool event called MOP, Models of Pride. We did all sorts of workshops for LGBTQ+ and allies, not to mention dinner and an awesome dance after! If you’re a part of the LGBTQ community or an ally I highly recommend looking them up. But that’s beside the point. In the article the authors mention how schools don’t really put LGBTQ into their curriculums, whether that be health, history, or other subjects. The authors mention how including un bias curriculums into classes that involve LGBTQ issues. According to the authors, “For LGBT students, attending a school with inclusive curriculum is related to less-hostile school experiences and increased feelings of connectedness to the school community”. This means that adding these lessons will open a more positive outlook into the LGBTQ community, not only will the LGBTQ students feel more welcomed but the students who don’t identify with the queer community will also be able to become more open minded and understanding of the issues and history of the LGBTQ people. The GLSEN article mentions how the slightest things in a curriculum can change for the better. For example, they mention the fact that in history they could teach about the civil rights leader Byard Rustin, who was an activist for gay rights. In addition to this they can mention things such as the laws that made it illegal to be gay, and all the riots and police harassment the LGBTQ people got back then. Things like this can really make a difference in kids in these junior high and high school levels. It can open doors to make the LGBTQ community feel more included and open the minds of people who might not be able to understand the LGBTQ community. Not to mention… history is history… people are people, math is math, social studies is social studies and it should involve all students, even the LGBTQ ones. Including more LGBTQ elements will make all the difference.
Until next time,
Adri(:
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