Safe Spaces- Gerri August, Reflection

"Safe Spaces" was one of the most interesting articles that I had read in this class. I had so many emotional connections while reading this article. I was happy, sad, frustrated, disgusted, angry and so on. Just so you all know, I am a huge supporter of the LGBT youth, so none of these negative emotions were towards them, but instead towards the ignorant people that were mentioned. For this blog, I am going to answer some of the reflection point questions that were asked throughout the article. I will answer them based on my own views and experience.

What messages did you receive about the LGBT when you were in school? Which messages were explicit, which were implied? (pg. 89)
Sadly, none of the schools that I attended did not give any messages about the LGBT youth. I remember not being aware of LGBT until I was in sixth grade and that was only because my friends were talking about lesbians. I asked them what a lesbian was and they laughed at me because they thought that I was stupid and naïve. I later asked my parents about it and they finally told me what lesbian, being gay, bisexual, and transgender was. Looking back at it now, I wish I was educated at a much younger age about this.  In the article, August argues that more teachers need to educate students about LGBT youth so that the LGBT students feel safe and included. In her own words, August states "What happens inside classroom walls reproduces the prejudices that exist outside these walls: straightness and gender conformity are assumed; LGBT identity is deviant." (pg. 84)  This reminds me of the first letter in SCWAAMP that American society values: straightness.  What irritates me is that some people go so far and think that being gay is a sin or crime. It seems that they don't realize that like race, lesbianism, gay, and bisexualism are not something that these people randomly chose to be.

As a parent, how would you feel if your child were in Zeke's or Sean's classroom? How would you respond to a friend who objected to Zeke's lesson? How might you respond to your child's questions that arise in response to Who's In a Family?
 If my child was placed in Zeke's or Sean's classroom, I would be happy, but I would be especially thrilled and impressed if my child was in Zeke's class. Even though Sean included books on other races and LGBT, what he did was nothing compared to Zeke's powerful lesson.  Zeke who is a kindergarten teacher, did an entire lesson on different kinds of families. He read books to his students about same sex parents and afterwards wanted the students to know that gay and lesbian parents are exactly like heterosexual parents when it comes to caring and loving their children. Zeke used a teaching method called integration and interpretation. August persuades "if applied across all disciplines and grade levels, integration and interpretation of LGBT experiences and contributions can transform our classrooms into safe spaces." (pg. 90) Instead of thinking of school as a torture chamber, LGBT would feel more safe if more material included things that they can easily relate and connect to. If I had a friend who objected Zeke's lesson, I would tell my friend that I respect his or her opinion, but this is the twenty first century and young children need to be more aware of what is actually happening and we can no longer pretend to our children that LGBT does not exist. If my child ever had questions about the families in Who's in a Family, I would say that no family is perfect. Families of all kinds occasionally have their disagreements, but they all love, take care, and look after one another. I would finally tell my child that friends may come and go, but families are the friends of many ages that you are naturally set up with for life.

As an educator, can you identify opportunities to incorporate LGBT voices into your curriculum? What support would you need to take this step?
Throughout the entire article August emphasizes that curriculum and communication are important in a classroom. When it comes to this August states "neglect one, and the other is bound to suffer; improve one, and the other will likely benefit." (pg. 85) As a future educator, I definitely want to include all races and LGBT in my curriculum. I would make sure that LGBT students can easily connect in my lessons. My personal goal is to teach my students the values of kindness, acceptance, and respect because it seems like so many people these days lack these characteristics. Finally, I would want my students to gain an understanding on what is actually going on around them. None of my students will be left in the dark. Instead, each student will have a spotlight on them that reflects their uniqueness. I know that some of the students' parents will object, but I would remind them that their children also have the right to know what is happening around them. I would need support from my family, friends, colleagues, and the principal. If any objections occur, I would point out what I just mentioned above.

Points to share: Many people seem to think that LGBT is recent, but that is completely false. Homosexuals were around since the beginning of time. LGBT is a culture that more people need to respect and accept. Not too long ago, I found out that one of my friends is gay, even though I thought he was straight. I now want to slap myself for making such an ignorant assumption! After my friend told me that he was gay, I had more respect and liked him even more as a person for being so brave because unfortunately, coming out is very risky. I found this blog post by the U.S. department of education that was very similar to this article. It talked about a conference in San Diego, California that discussed about making schools more safe for the LGBT youth.  If more schools contained material that included the LGBT culture, more of them would proudly come out of the dark and cold closet that unfortunately, still exists.