Allan’s Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places

After reading Allan’s piece about addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school I found three quotes that struck my attention:

‘adult’ issues are sometimes seen as intrusions into or threats to this safety zone. (Allan 315)

 

When I read this in the very beginning it made me think of all the ways the topic of LGBT is becoming less taboo and more debatable. Allan mentions that most topics are labeled as adult issues and therefore they should not be spoken in primary schools. I personally do not think that LBGT marriages should be talked about unless the topic of marriage ever comes up. Sort of like don’t ask don’t tell I do not feel that it is a teacher’s job to teach something so personal and complex. But if ever a student was to ask about LGBT marriage or if the teacher is reading a book about family or marriage there should be a book of an LGBT marriage intergraded in the day’s lesson. I think to shelter children of topics is less safe than to speak about the things they already know or are already questioning. So for example if a child has two moms or two dads when speaking about family or marriage in a class it would be the perfect time to talk about different families.

“many teachers were also being asked to attempt to maintain the dominance of heterosexuality within the school.” (Allan 321)

 

 

This part in the article made me think of how many teachers must have been offended by this request. We live in a time where many people who are gay are open about it and so to have to come to a place where you really cannot be yourself must be tough. I can understand where someone of the LGBT community can be offended by someone asking them to maintain the dominance of heterosexuality within the school. As I put myself in a gay person’s shoes I probably would be ok with keeping my personal life personal but to totally no speak about something that is apart of me would be very difficult to deal with. It is almost old fashioned and definitely discriminative against gays or lesbians. I am pretty sure that the decision to keep things one way is most likely the decision of the parents. Or maybe there are some teachers who are gay and are hesitant about talking about being gay because they would not want it to be a negative experience much like the teacher Laura that is mentioned in the article. Although Laura felt her life was her personal business she thought it was important to speak about gay marriage to her students and she was careful about the way she projected it so that it can be looked at in a positive light.

“And so, despite the fact that our own perceived ‘private’ spaces can come to take on a material existence that we truly believe in, spaces can never really be fixed, for their boundaries are always open to continuous struggle and they are continually being made and remade through social relations (McGregor 2004).”(Allan 325)

I think that this quote is the ultimate truth about all of the social issues in our country. I do not think that problems will ever be solved because when we fix one thing another thing comes up.But that is a very negative way to think. Change is inevitable so as times change so should people. If LGBTs are feeling unequal to everyone else things have to change because they too are humans part of families with children living in a world where there are other kids with other kinds of families and different circumstance and as educators and parents we must prepare our children for the world.

The one thing I  would like to ask is the question of how would you feel if your child was part of the LGBT community and they were discriminated against? Or would you treat them the way that society does? When it comes to social issues I think that is best that we all put on our empathy hats. (wish there was such thing) If we have no problem with a gay or lesbian or transgender person then why is it so taboo. Times are changing and so we have to evolve as people.