Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Spaces: addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school

Just the title of this article alone says a lot about how sexuality is viewed in the school system. What is so "unspeakable" about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender sexualities? Why is a primary school a "forbidden space"? I suppose that talking about it in school seems inappropriate to some people because it has to do with sex. However, sex in heterosexual relationships is a topic that is avoided, yet the heterosexual relationships themselves have never been banned from discussion. Teachers don't have to think twice about mentioning their girlfriend or wife or boyfriend or husband if they are in a heterosexual relationship, but for a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender staff member to come out, it is an emotional declaration of self affirmation.

It is also important, and it is mentioned a lot throughout this article, is how to change homophobic language on the playground. When words like "gay" or "fag" are used as an insult, it reiterates the idea that identifying as gay is undesirable and will make others not like you. How the school in this article handled it was to simply talk about the subject in class, as well as after school clubs through resources like books, and teachers talking about their experiences. This school equated using "gay" in a negative connotation to using racial slurs like "paki", and talked about how it may make someone feel if they were called that word. A quote from this article I really liked was on page 322-3, which reads, "Arguments suggesting that LGBT teachers refrain from discussing their relationships within the school fail to acknowledge that children themselves might benefit from the openness of LGBT
role models for a variety of reasons: because they may identify (or eventually 322 A. Allan et al.identify) themselves as LGBT or just ‘different’, because they have gay or lesbian parents (Letts and Sears 1999; Kissen 2002) and because one of the duties of school is to prepare all children to live in a diverse society." I think that last bit is most important, even though there may not be children who identify as LGBT either in the present or future, or who don't come from LGBT families, every person can benefit from an education on this topic. It prepares us to open our minds and to be successful and happy in a diverse society.

Link: http://www.change.org/p/pepperdine-overturn-your-decision-to-deny-recognition-to-lgbt-students. This is a petition for Pepperdine University to recognize LGBT equality in their institution.

Below is a parental recognition map, The green states have laws that create legal ties to both parents for children born to same-sex parents in a legally recognized relationship, while the white states lack clear mechanisms that create legal ties to both parents for children born to same-sex couples via donor insemination.