Introducing The Next Generation Of Leaders And Thinkers

LGBTQ Education Is Important For Teachers

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When you are a person in a gender or sexual minority and you are going through secondary education, you probably don’t realise how much you can actually benefit from the school’s support in your life as an LGBTQ person until you discover the school is either going to actively support or demean you.

There is quite a contrast between the responses schools have given to the prospect of having LGBTQ students (which I can guarantee you, every school possesses).

For instance, a South Dakota school district has reportedly blocked a significant number of LGBTQ sites from use for the students, particularly the sort of websites which could support a struggling LGBTQ person, such as the ‘GLAAD’ and ‘It Gets Better’ websites. While students at Sioux Falls District schools are denied access from LGBTQ websites, ‘conservative’ ones are still readily available for them; the juxtaposition between the two site types’ availability presents what seems like it could be an anti-LGBTQ message. This is harmful for students not only because it is implying that being part of the LGBTQ community is a negative thing, but also because if someone in the LGBTQ community needs help this may be one of the only ways they can receive it. Denying them access to this help can, in actual fact, be very dangerous for the person’s safety or overall welfare.

An entire district of young LGBTQ people being invalidated for their sexuality or gender, told it’s too explicit or inappropriate, or barred from reaching out for help certainly translates to something which needs to be altered as soon as possible. Meanwhile, however, there is some positive work being done in schools by and/or for the LGBTQ community…

Although one of the teachers at my school who I consider to be a friend of mine is very educated on the LGBTQ community and the issues it faces, it wasn’t until earlier this week that I discovered anything could and was going to be done to improve the school’s general stance on LGBTQ students beyond discussing it at lunchtime in a history classroom. An amazing friend of mine brought me into a meeting which revolved around creating an LGBTQ workshop for teachers.

The purpose of the workshop was, first and foremost, to educate teachers who volunteered to attend and raise awareness about basic concepts relating to people in gender and sexual minorities. Following this, the second half of the workshop was designated to the task of discussing and deciding how teachers would deal with various situations that an LGBTQ student could find themselves in. The workshop was run by, initially, a gay male teacher, Mr. Mc Guinness (also shouts out) who recruited members of the student leadership team, and myself.

The team involved the following people: Asha, articulate and passionate about socialism and film soundtracks (they/them or she/her pronouns); Charlotte, an avid Twenty One Pilots fan and proud asexual (she/her pronouns); Daisy, a rad non-binary model student whose grades are everyone’s ‘goals’ (they/them pronouns); Elise, a queer girl and walking encyclopaedia of knowledge, from geographical terms to Parks and Recreation (she/her pronouns); Natasha, an open, hilarious and compassionate girl who somehow manages to make everyone’s lives easier (she/her pronouns); Oscar, who is appropriately described as ‘the leader of the agender agenda’ (they/them pronouns)… and there was me. As a talkative and candid genderfluid, I felt comfortable within this group. I wasn’t even entirely sure that there were any other trans people in my year until, like, Tuesday. It felt like great progression for me.

Hopefully, it was also a positive experience for the teachers who participated. The teachers who were present all seemed enthusiastic. They brought some previous knowledge to the discussions, and showed effort to learn new things during the discussions and tasks we gave them (which Mr. Mc Guinness and the kids went round the room and helped with). Their queries were polite and respectful, their views on how to handle situations presented to them were appropriate and supportive… they treated us all, and each other, like equals. Like people who just… were LGBTQ. No slurs, no variations of “are you sure?” When you’re young and in the LGBTQ community, that’s not something you ever take for granted.

The tasks in the first half included a short talk about gender pronouns – what’s available and how to use them for yourself and others – along with brainstorming all of the slurs/discriminative terms towards LGBTQ people the teachers could recognise in any situation. There was the (informal!) testing and learning of various terms used within the LGBTQ community (mainly different sexualities and different gender types), and examining the ‘genderbread person’ as well.

The second section of the session was kicked off by briefly considering the effects of the introduction of LGBTQ equality policies in schools. To develop this idea, there were discussions about how the teachers would react if someone came out as LGBTQ to them, or how to recognise and handle homo or transphobic bullying. Charlotte and Natasha performed an Oscar-nominee-worthy roleplay (or ‘dramatic interpretation’ as they preferred to call it) of how not to react to a student coming out as a teacher. The teachers present were then asked what they would do differently. Finally, homo and transphobic bullying were intricately defined and we clarified what forms homo and transphobic bullying can appear in.

The last slide in the PowerPoint, encouraging everyone to have an ‘all-inclusive day’, was, of course, of the rainbow variety.

Personally, I seriously enjoyed the time from  the start, where I stuck a label saying “#surprise, I’m genderfluid” on my lanyard, to the end, where we all thanked Mr. Mc Guinness for helping us feel represented, appreciated and like we could have a voice. I used my extensive knowledge and experience of the LGBTQ community, especially the trans community within that, to educate others and have a fun and genuinely intriguing time in doing it. I cannot fully express how much of a brilliant and unique experience it was for me to just talk about being in a sexual minority (I’m also pansexual with a preference for women) and being trans, to people who were serious and also curious about listening.

I felt that hearing the other kids speak of their experiences and their knowledge was also something that made me feel proud and positively elated; they have not just been my friends for a greater part of my school career… they’re people who deserve the chance to speak like they did during the workshop every day, too.

On top of this, it felt surreal and amazing to be able to talk to an adult who was part of our community and be taken seriously. We had never felt so cared for or represented for our minority in school, and we can never truly repay Mr. Guinness for that gift that this work has given us. It wasn’t just that he is part of the community, so we felt beyond comfortable with discussing anything the meeting and workshop might throw at us with him; this teacher didn’t speak for the kids, but let the kids speak. That’s a feat not every adult, especially a teacher, can credit themselves for.

The team (including myself) and the wonderful Mr. Mc Guinness will be moving on in an attempt to create an LGBTQ society for students in the school, hopefully among other things.

This may be one school, but it feels like we’re changing the world, one step at a time.

I don’t know about the rest of the team, but I’m ecstatic.

 

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