Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community
Dennis Carlson
“…I not only want to point to some of the ways gay people and “gayness” has been “kept in their place” in the school community…”
This quote reminds me a lot of my senior year at my high school. Many of my fellow students were coming out and confirming that they were gay. Even though most of us were excepting of these facts there was still unspoken boundaries. Such as gay couples were less likely to kiss or show affection in public because this was still an uncomfortable sight for the rest of us. Then when it came to our school “dress up” week, the school would not allow us to dress up as those of the opposite sex. As the year progressed there were these new unspoken and unseen rules that had to be followed.
“Popular culture may represent identity, but identity also is represented in corporeal form, as individuals actively “live” their identities and makes these identities visible in their everyday relations with others.”
A person’s identity is expressed through the way that they live their lives and react to certain situations. I think that the hardest obstacle for any homosexual is “coming out”. Some of my closest friends are gay or lesbians and they have told me that the most difficult thing for them to do was to reveal their sexuality. But sometimes society isn’t the hardest to reveal too. At my old high school there was a majority of us who just took it in stride and accepted others easily or in an un-harmful way kept their judgments to themselves. The hardest people to reveal themselves to were mostly their parents and immediate family.
Alright I don’t have a quote for this but I just want to speak about it. At my old school we were fortunate to have a GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) club. At first the club started off with very few people but then it quickly expanded. The teacher who led the group was gay himself and that just seemed to help the group even more. Now, I’m not sure whether the group has continued or if has ended. Last year they started it up again without much support from the school. I think that it easier for teens and kids to accept others who are homosexuals but adults tend to have a harder time.
Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this on my blog, but thinking back to my own high school days, there were no openly gay students there.
This seems to point to the fact that we are moving forward in our society. It may be slow, but examples like the one you gave show that attitudes can change over time, and become more inclusive.
I like all of your points that you had to say. I had the GSA at my school and I thought it was great because it gave people the chance to speak out and come together. It also helped with making more students accept it which was such a good thing. Also, I have three gay cousins who I wrote about on my blog and I just felt so bad for the things they had to go through. I am a very accepting person of it and I can't believe how so many people aren't. I believe that it is there decison and no one should judge them for it. It is so sad to think that so many people in our society can be so mean to someone just because of the fact that they are gay. It is really sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the points and can too relate. I also had a Gay Straight Alliance at my school; however, I do not know much about it. I feel as though people should be treated for who they are and not by their sexuality or anything, everyone should be treated equally. I do believe that friends tend to be more open to someone coming out as opposed to their parents. Part of the reason I think is because a parent probably does not want to be judged by other parents and are afraid maybe that they wont have the same lives as someone with a straight child. For example, their son or daughter could not get married. As far as Tobias comment I do agree society has come a long way but it still has many ways to go in regards to equality.
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