Tag: LGBTQIA+

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Opinion The Last Word

The Importance of Seeing Yourself on Screen

Man, high school can be hard. Unless you are in that environment, you might forget about it or look back on it with a distorted sense of nostalgia. As a high school teacher of 20 years — and now a mother of a high schooler — I know this firsthand. My school distributed yearbooks last week, and the senior quote of a student with whom I am very close was, “I was supposed to be having the time of my life,” by Sylvia Plath. That really sums it up for some kids. Unless you were super popular, you likely have a story of feeling lonely or misunderstood when you were in high school.

I saw a trailer for a new Netflix show a couple of weeks ago that was so incredibly refreshing. Heartstopper, based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman, takes you into a world of 10th and 11th graders at both an all-boys and all-girls school in England. Openly gay Charlie Spring is seated next to popular rugby player Nicholas Nelson in form, the English equivalent of homeroom. A new, unlikely friendship blossoms between them as the story begins. It accurately portrays the fears, uncertainties, and self-discoveries that high school students routinely experience. Ultimately, we experience the fear, excitement, confusion, sadness, and happiness that is high school. This is the most relevant show for a high school teacher that I have ever seen. Let me explain why.

We can have all the diversity and inclusion training, and training on how to properly handle bullying that exists, but learning about it and seeing it put into action are two completely different things. In Heartstopper, the art teacher, Mr. Ajayi, expertly portrayed by British actor Fisayo Akinade, offers his classroom as a safe space for Charlie to come at lunchtime. They discuss how he was bullied so badly the previous year when Charlie was publicly outed. Mr. Ajayi, a gay man himself, discusses how terrible school was for him, saying at one point he just had to “suffer.”

Writer and LGBTQ+ activist Alexander Leon said, “Queer people don’t grow up as ourselves, we grow up playing a version of ourselves that sacrifices authenticity to minimise humiliation and prejudice. The massive task of our adult lives is to unpick which parts we’ve created to protect us.” Navigating high school is hard enough. Pretending to be someone you are not out of fear of bullying, not being accepted, or even being kicked out of school in the cases of some religious or private schools, solely based on who you are, is a tremendous weight that many LGBTQ+ students carry.

I have had several students talk to me about the impact Heartstopper has had on them. One former student of mine (they/them) discussed how it made them feel seen and validated to have a positive bisexual character in a show. They said that they never felt more understood. Positive representation of all marginalized groups in film and television is extremely important for this very reason.

Self-identity is a tricky beast, even when sexuality is not involved. I watch kids try to figure out who they are on a daily basis. I remember having those feelings as a teen, wondering where I fit in. Knowing that someone out there understands and accepts you, and having a safe place to go, can make all the difference in the world, especially in the time of book bans and so-called “Don’t Say Gay” and “bathroom” bills restricting the way gay, queer, and trans identities can be expressed in school, the exact place where young people are learning who they are and how to show that true self to the world.

Heartstopper is a stunningly beautiful representation of what it is like for kids in high school these days. I am thrilled that a show like this exists for queer kids to see themselves represented in such a beautiful and positive light. As a teacher, it has pushed me to go a step further in being there for those kids who may be viewed as outcasts or feel like they don’t belong. It has pushed me to educate others about what many of our students face each day. Take the time to watch the show. It is positive, uplifting, and unlike any series I have ever seen. You will laugh, cry, and remember how you felt when you first fell in love. Most importantly, you might reevaluate how you handle situations with students in your classroom.

Melanie W. Morton is a high school Spanish teacher originally from Memphis.

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Opinion The Last Word

Burying the Time Capsule

Photo: Info633933 | Dreamstime.com

Jesus Santa Cruz (he/they), a Los Angeles native and current high school English teacher in Memphis, thinks back to his English teacher of his freshman year in high school. “There was a section in my teacher’s library that said ‘LGBT Books,’” he says. “I will always remember that classroom library.”

Santa Cruz explains that at the time, he was intrigued yet afraid to pick those books up because, for one, they weren’t a common thing to see in a classroom, and two, he hadn’t yet felt comfortable enough to fully express that part of his identity. But now, as a proud queer individual in his 30s, he understands why that memory sticks with him. It was how that section of his English teacher’s classroom library made him feel. Every day, he stepped into that classroom knowing that someone understood him, that someone accepted him. He felt seen and accepted, simply because he was included.

Schools are where children spend most of their time developing and practicing their beliefs. In schools, children learn and internalize almost everything they hear and see. The classroom isn’t just a place for growing minds to learn how to be better writers, readers, and mathematicians, but a place for our nation’s youth and future leaders to socialize and explore in hopes of discovering their true identities and reaching their fullest potential. In order for children to feel safe in doing so, schools, classrooms, and teachers must create a safe environment, inclusive of everyone — but unfortunately, this is not always the case.

After reading that Tennessee lawmakers planned House Bill 0800, which “would ban textbooks and instructional materials that ‘promote, normalize, support, or address controversial social issues, such as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) lifestyles,’” I was first reminded of where in the world I was. (I’m living in the South, so how can I be surprised?) Secondly, I came to a realization that this is much bigger than my current coordinates on the United States map but an issue that has repeated itself throughout U.S. history and across the map — the silencing of voices. Voices that have echoed throughout generations and centuries of suppression and dehumanization.

In other words, “Here we go again,” as Santa Cruz says. “In a non-pessimistic way, I’m upset but, living in this country for as long as I have, I’m not surprised.”

Another bill Tennessee lawmakers plan to include, House Bill 2633, states that “a teacher or other employee of a public school or LEA is not required to refer to a student using the student’s preferred pronoun if the pronoun does not align with the student’s biological sex.” To put it simply, a student’s pronouns will not matter. Teachers and other employees of public schools get to call students whatever pronouns they want, despite them communicating what they feel most comfortable with.

Santa Cruz expresses that living in Memphis as someone who is queer is like “living in a time capsule.” As for myself, I would describe my experience as living in a box. Constricting myself into walls that eventually cave in, suffocating my authentic self out of me and exhaling frustrations out onto this keyboard. That is the experience of a queer individual living in a society she is not sure is fully accepting of her.

When it comes down to the queer experience in Memphis, Tennessee, located deep in the infamous Bible Belt, I couldn’t have used a better metaphor than the “time capsule,” as Santa Cruz described. Many parts of the city remain untouched, including some outdated values and traditions — and Santa Cruz and I aren’t the only ones who feel this way.

Though most LGBTQ+ adults are aware of these issues, including other teachers and employees who work in our schools, our youth are not oblivious to them either. “It’s the 21st century. We should have been over homophobia by now,” explains a teenage student who attends public school in Memphis and identifies as queer. “Us children are discovering who we are earlier than generations before us. Banning textbooks and ignoring our pronouns won’t stop us from discovering who we really are.”

Another student politely joins the conversation, “When adults aren’t supportive of who we are, it makes people like us feel like it’s hard to be ourselves. It makes us feel like we don’t belong.”

The two students, who both identify as LGBTQ+ and gender-fluid, agree that if teachers normalized listening and allowed them material that is inclusive of their queer identities, it would help them build confidence in who they are and what they choose for themselves.

We still have yet to see our country’s leaders bury that time capsule so we can move forward. It is difficult to say that America is truly working toward positive change if our schools are not inclusive of all the diverse backgrounds and identities of our youth. America’s reputation for cloaking its regressions and immobilities in sparkling words, half-truths, or even complete silence remains.

Ashley Insong is a starving artist who is working toward being published in The New York Times while teaching full-time and freelance writing part-time. She enjoys singing and writing poetry and short stories about love, self-discovery, and her Filipina heritage.

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Memphis Gaydar News

Report: South Has Most LGBTQ Residents In the U.S.

CREDIT: Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

The South is really gay, y’all.

A new report from two gay rights groups says that one in three LGBTQ people in the country call the South their home, more than any other region in the country.

The report says LGBTQ people live in the South despite its “hostile policy landscape.” Of those LGBTQ Southerners, 93 percent live in states with laws that negatively impact “virtually every aspect of daily life” for them. For all of this, the group called its report, “Telling a New Southern Story: LGBTQ Resilience, Resistance, and Leadership.” Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

“Contrary to media depictions of LGBTQ people primarily living in New York or California, the South is home to more LGBTQ people than any other region, as well as incredible racial diversity among LGBTQ people,” said Logan Casey, policy researcher at the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and author of the report. “LGBTQ advocates in the South are both creative and effective in response to the political landscape and have often led the nation in working in broad coalitions and across a wide range of issues.”

The report is from Colorado-based MAP and North Carolina-based Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE). It finds that 3.6 million LGBTQ adults live in the South. The South is also home to over half a million transgender adults, more than any other region. Also, more than one in five LGBTQ Southerners are Black, more than any other region of the country.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

Here are some other key findings from the report:

• LGBTQ Southerners are more likely than LGBTQ people outside the South to be religiously affiliated, with over half of LGBTQ Southerners being religiously affiliated.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

• LGBTQ Southerners experience multiple challenges in economic security, health access and outcomes, as well as in daily life

• According to a survey from the CSE, 71 percent of LGBTQ Southerners have experienced harassment related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

• 23 percent of LGBTQ Southerners have experienced physical violence, with higher rates for people who are transgender.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

• One in three Black LGBTQ Southerners reported experiencing physical violence because they are LGBTQ, the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group.

Progress has been made across the South in the last 10 years, according to the report, despite harsh state policies. LGBTQ people are innovative, focusing on building community and providing direct support to address community needs without waiting for state legislatures, the report says.

“It’s true that LGBTQ Southerners experience a lot of barriers to equality and full inclusion, from a difficult policy landscape to the cultural realities of the South,” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the CSE. “These forces often require that we organize in different ways, dreaming up new strategies, finding ways to work the seams and the fault lines — in other words, that we approach organizing in ways that are both queer and Southern.

“There’s a deep sense of resolve and hopefulness, even as we also carry significant pain and grief. The impact of LGBTQ people staying in the South, being out, sharing our stories, being in public leadership – all of this is changing old notions of what’s possible in the South. This is our home, and to claim it as such is an act of both resistance and reclamation.”
Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality


Read the entire report for yourself right here:
[pdf-1]