The For
Why we should add LGTBQ2S+ studies to our schools
Responsibility to Society
Society is shaped by youth, youth are shaped by their schooling, and their schooling is shaped by curriculum. Presently in society, the LGBTQ2S+ community - particularly LGBTQ2S+ youth - is overwhelmingly at risk for harassment, sexual or physical assault, thoughts of suicide, and substance abuse (McCabe et al, 2010). They have faced, overcome, and continue to overcome discrimination and prejudice in society. These issues have a place in history, english, sexual education, health education, social studies, humanities and any other relevant classroom discussion. The curriculum enacted in a province or any particular region is reflective of the values with which that society wishes its students to learn, understand, and ultimately embrace. Society looks to teachers and educators to ensure that students are prepared for the future in regards to academic skills, as well as social skills and emotional understanding. Thus the enactment of LGBTQ2S+ studies must be intertwined within the educational curriculum of this province.
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One of the most prominent issues that requires such attention in curriculum is the issue of gender identity. Gender identity needs to be further addressed in our classrooms and discussed for students to acquire further knowledge and understanding - and above all else - support. The discussion of gender identity and the existence of “gender” through curriculum will help create more inclusive classrooms as students understand the importance of respecting differences and empathizing with their peers. A 2011 study by the Trans PULSE Project discovered that 59% of respondents knew that their gender identity did not match their body before the age of 10, and 80% had come to this realization by the age of 14. Additionally, 1 in 5 of the respondents in the survey did not identify as being male or female (Coleman et al, 2011). While the exploration of issues in the transgender community has only recently emerged, it is increasingly clear that the status quo is unacceptable moving forward.
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In a 2010 study of trans youth in Ontario, it was found that approximately 47% of trans youth in Ontario had considered suicide and 19% had attempted suicide at some point in the previous 12 months. Simultaneously in this study, 77% of trans respondents stated that they had seriously considered suicide at some point and 45% had attempted suicide at some point in their lives (Bauer et al, 2010). Research led by Elizabeth Saewyc in the United States discovered that 7% of youth had attempted suicide at some point in their lives, while 33% of LGBTQ2S+ youth had attempted suicide (Saewyc 2007). Similar findings were discovered in risk surveys performed by the Massachusetts Department of Education which found that LGBTQ2S+ youth were four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Department of Education, 2009). When considering these statistics it is clear that LGBTQ2S+ students are not supported on an equitable level to heterosexual students. As an educational system and as a larger society, these students are owed the support they rightfully deserve in their schooling experience.
Despite the recent steps that society has made, homophobia and transphobia still exist within society and are a barrier that must be eliminated from classrooms. Regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, students have the right to receive an education in a safe and healthy environment. Students look to their teachers to be positive role models and through the inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ studies in curriculum, teachers can provide that positive role modelling. As is the case with the existence of gay-straight alliances in schools, the presence of teacher and administration support is crucial in their effectiveness to creating a safe school environment (Chesir-Teran & Hughes, 2009). Teachers have a responsibility to creating safety for their students and the inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ studies in the curriculum they enact in the classroom is the key to their success. Ultimately, while the existence of groups like gay-straight alliances an important step in creating safe spaces, it is the enactment of curriculum that will help create safe schools.
In a 2011 study, 70% of Canadian students had heard homophobic expressions and 48% had heard homophobic slurs in their everyday activities at school. Furthermore 55% of students identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 74% of trans students had faced verbal harassment, compared to the 26% of heterosexual students who had reported verbal harassment (Taylor & Peter, 2011). As students learn about issues pertaining to the LGBTQ2S+ community they can gain awareness and understanding of the impact that homophobic expressions, slurs and violence have within society - whether historically or in the present. Research performed on the challenges and resilience in LGBTQ2S+ youth at Concordia University demonstrated that LGBTQ2S+ youth who possessed social support from parents and peers were notably less susceptible to depression than those who did not (Benibgui, 2010). Additionally, a study of students in Minnesota uncovered similar findings that family connection, school safety and the presence of caring adults were the greatest factors in protecting against thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts (Eisenberg & Resnick, 2006). Through curriculum enactment it will become clear to all students, members, and observers of a school’s community that these negative behaviours are not tolerated, and that those in the LGBTQ2S+ community are welcomed.
School Safety
Clarity for Teachers
A significant issue for teachers in regards to discussing topics relating to the LGBTQ2S+ community is the lack of direction received from curriculum. As Amy Fredman et al discuss in their article “You’re Moving a Frickin’ Big Ship,” the inaction of educators to discuss LGBTQ2S+ issues is ultimately detrimental to creating an inclusive environment for LGBTQ2S+ youth in their classrooms as “not talking about these issues reinforces the heteronormativity surrounding many rules in school environments.” While interviewing educators on the either unwritten rules of avoiding the topic of LGBTQ2S+ issues or discomfort that they feel from lacking concrete curricular guidelines, one high school teacher turned university professor remarked “It can almost be homophobic not to talk about it.” (Fredman, Schultz & Hoffman, 2015). Teachers need the direction and support to include LGBTQ2S+ topics into classrooms through viewing a curriculum that intertwines those topics with subject matter.
As Margaret LeCompte has expressed when discussing harassment in schools, efforts by teachers “should not be focused on persuading individual youth to change what they are doing, but rather, on empowering educators to change what they are doing to change the behaviours of youth on a structural level that acknowledges the widespread consequences of harassment.” Furthermore urban educators are in a unique position to combat harassment and “due to the diversity in urban areas, schools may have already encountered battles with race, ethnicity, and class, and experiences with these areas of diversity may pave the way for educators to better understand harassment” (LeCompte, 2000). In order to create the healthy and safe school environment that society wishes students to experience, teachers need the empowerment to address and discuss these issues - and that will come from having clear expectations of and possession of subject matter covering LGBTQ2S+ issues.
Inclusivity
Within the curriculum, the existence of other groups of students is not ignored as it is with the LGBTQ2S+ community. For instance, women, French Canadiens, African-Canadians, and Indigenous people exist within Canadian society and school curriculum. It would be wrong for educators to ignore their place in society and the classroom, thus it would also be wrong to not represent the existence of the LGBTQ2S+ community. The presence of LGBTQ2S+ studies in curriculum will bring awareness and create discussion in classrooms, which will allow for healthy discourse on the topic as teachers and students move forward together. Inclusivity, safety, and equality (in regards to individual students) will not occur if educators remain idle on this topic. While discussing the lack of LGBTQ2S+ curriculum in the context of the United States, Ian Macgillivray states that the dominance, or the coercive power of the institution of heterosexuality “coupled with the exclusion of other ways of being justifies the assumed superiority of the heterosexual social order” (Macgillivray, 2004). Similar to how the recent inclusion of indigenous studies in curriculum has increased discourse on the historical and contemporary struggles faced by the indigenous community in classrooms, implementing LGBTQ2S+ studies will raise awareness to students of the hardships that exist today and in the past - and most importantly provide a greater opportunity for LGBTQ2S+ students to feel welcomed in classrooms and schools.
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In classrooms today, the historical and contemporary issues pertaining to sex, race, religion and indigenous peoples are discussed, thus the inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ studies in the curriculum will demonstrate to students that these topics are all of equal importance within education and society. The National Education Association aptly characterized this issue in an 1995 article when they stated that pre-service and in-service teachers must be equipped with “the knowledge and skills to treat all members of the school community with respect” as well as not only an end to verbal taunting and physical violence but “for the full inclusion of LGBTQ2S+Q persons and relationships, including an accurate portrayal of the roles and contributions of gay, lesbian, and bi- sexual people throughout history, with an acknowledgement of their sexual orientation” (National Education Association, 1995). Ultimately the inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ studies in curriculum will affect a number of subjects as they all interconnect with these topics, which will only strengthen the ability for inclusion and positive change to take place. The lessons taught and learned in each subject overlap and provide valuable understanding to students. Lessons taught from human history are not limited strictly to the history classroom, thus the existence of sexuality and gender identity should not be limited only to simple or brief discussion in health class, but rather involved in any relevant subject material at school.