subject: The Silencing of LGBTQ Literature [print this page] One of the key ways that schools condone homophobia is by failing to include LGBTQ literature in the curriculum.
In a 2005 article entitled "Teaching Queer-Inclusive English Language Arts," Mollie V. Blackburn and J. E Buckley found that only 8.5% of responding schools indicated that they use "texts, films, or other materials addressing same-sex desire in their English language arts curriculum". For those that did, it was often a single text or within one class only.
Why is that? Patricia L. Daniel suggests that, for many English teachers, gay and lesbian students are invisible in the classroom; that is why we haven't "protected their rights, feelings, and self-esteem". But issues of sexuality in literature don't just affect gay studentsthey affect straight students, too.
In fact, Alex Sanchez argues, "When we condone hurtful words and prejudiced beliefs based on ignorance, we are fostering an environment that tolerates aggression and undermines the safety of our schools for everyone" (48; italics in original).
For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students, the world is often an unsafe space. Since 1991, Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church have protested at everything from productions of The Laramie Project to funerals of American soldiers ("Fred Phelps"). Their website, www.GodHatesFags.com, proclaims they have staged "over 34,000 peaceful demonstrations opposing the fag lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth."
In 2001, Jerry Falwell placed blame for 9/11 on the "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians." He soon apologized, but to many, his words rang hollow ("Falwell"). In the past five years, too, gay marriage and civil unions (and the related laws, bans, and court rulings) have made national headlines.
These controversies have been playing out in schools as well. In 2007, three of the ten most-challenged books addressed gay themes, from same-sex relationships to gay adoptionThe Color Purple, And Tango Makes Three, and Perks of Being a Wall-floiver (Morales).
That same year, the American Civil Liberties Union had to step in to defend a Virginia high school student's right to wear a T-shirt featuring a lesbian pride symbol ("ACLU Demands") and a Florida high school's Gay-Straight Alliance's right to meet on campus after school officials claimed that their abstinence-only policy would be violated if the group was to assemble on school grounds ("Gay-Straight"). And in 2008, 14-year-old Brandon Mclnerney stormed into his southern California high school's computer lab, armed with a small caliber handgun.
He shot 15-year-old Lawrence King twice in the head, killing him. King was openly gay and professed to have a crush on Mclnerney, who was "tall, good-looking, popular, smart"and who had rebuffed King, calling him a faggot (Broverman). This year's Day of Silence was held in King's memory, but how much has any of this affected our pedagogical practice?
For most teachers, this is the primary struggle for civil rights that we will witness during our careers. As Daniel points out in "Invitation to All: Welcoming Gays and Lesbians into My Classroom and Curriculum," "we are in a position to promote social justice that includes gay and lesbian students".
We can do this in so many ways: including books with LGBTQ themes in our curriculum, supporting our school's Gay-Straight Alliance, and creating a safe space within our classroom for all studentsgay and straight alike. After all, we have the unique opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.
Many school districts have mission statements that promote multiculturalism and the celebration of diversity, both in the curriculum and beyond. But as Dean R. Smith pointed out in a presentation at the 1994 NCTE Annual Convention, we tend to "color code" multicultural issues.
He and Christina Allan, in her article "Poets of Comrades: Addressing Sexual Orientation in the English Classroom," both argue that we need to include sexual orientation as an aspect of diversity.
For them, the term multicultural refers to more than just skin color: While we commonly use it to refer to racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity, it can also include issues related to sexual orientation and gender variance. Framed in this way, we need to make the time and space in our curriculum to address LGBTQ issues with students, both as they arise in the text and in the world around us. In doing so, students can explore these issues through open dialogue and reflective writing that is engendered by books themselves.
If we don't fight to include LGBTQ books in our English classes, we will have failed our students, gay and straight alike. Is that something we want to live with?
