Emily’s List

If you wonder where the homosexual orientation in your local high, middle, or even grade school comes from, you might find part of the answer in the latest issue of Radical Teacher, “a socialist, feminist and anti-racist journal on the theory and practice of teaching.”

“In the spring of 2004, I solicited undergraduate students in the English education program I coordinate at The College of New Jersey to participate in an independent study on [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer–actually it is Questioning-change made on 9/13/06 by MAK] LGBTQ young adult literature,” Emily Meixner writes in RT. “For several years I had wanted to teach a course on this topic.”

“As a former high school teacher, I was all too familiar with the day-to-day verbal and physical violence described by the LGBTQ students who responded to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2003 National School Climate Survey, close to 84% of whom reported experiencing verbal harassment at school and more than 90% of whom indicated that they hear anti-gay sentiments expressed in their schools’ hallways, bathrooms, locker rooms, and classrooms.”

The same could not be said of the young ladies on Emily’s List. She found five volunteers—all straight girls.

“In my reading and writing methods classes, as my students and I examine the ways in which schools often replicate racial, class, and gender inequities, we discuss and practice approaches that are democratic, student-centered, and contextually relevant,” Meixner explains. “Unfortunately, and despite their preparation and expressed commitment to safe classrooms, when my students encounter evidence of heterosexism and homophobia in school, many remain uncertain about whether they should intervene.”

“Astonishingly, 83% of LBGTQ students report that their teachers consistently do not [italics in original].” As you can see, Meixner teaches the teachers of tomorrow. Thus, her methods have a multiplier effect.

“In the last month of the course, as my students began to discuss their final projects, they determined that they wanted them to counteract heterosexism and homophobia by providing substantive and socially responsible learning opportunities for the students they would be teaching,” Meixner remembers. “Initially, each suggested an individual project: an ethnography of a school that exemplified tolerance and safety for LGBTQ students, a curricular unit that focused explicitly on representations of gender and sexuality, a short play composed of monologues about LGBTQ students’ experiences, and so on.”

“When I had conceived of the course, these were exactly the kinds of conciousness-raising classroom projects I had imagined.” With English teachers of the future receiving this type of training, don’t imagine that the verbal scores on the SATs are going to reverse direction and go through the roof anytime soon.

Nonetheless, as a result of the research compiled by Meixner’s students, we can not only see how so-called “gender issues” are packaged for classroom discussion but how teachers work hand-in-glove with librarians to further their mutually-agreed-upon agendas. Meixner’s class surveys found that:

“Fourteen of the twenty librarians stated that they were familiar with at least several LGBTQ titles.

“Many of the middle-school librarians cited support such as a gay-straight read-in, a student/community forum on LGBTQ concerns, and the existence of Gay-Straight Alliances and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) at their associated high schools.

“Of the high school librarians to whom my students spoke,” Meixner relates, “only one in five expressed serious reservations about providing LGBTQ outreach through the library.”

At least one of Meixner’s students felt emboldened by the exercise. “I will no longer ignore the word ‘faggot’ in my classroom,” the star pupil said, vowing to “stop whatever I’m doing at the time and refer my students to our classroom conduct contract, which lists this type of name-calling as sexual harassment.”

“Then I’m going to reiterate my lesson on sexual harassment.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.