If anything serious happened among students, I’m sure that the school administrators would do something about it, but they would not address it if it were a teacher.
Many of my teachers and fellow students are supportive, but I still sometimes don’t feel safe being LGBTQ. My classmates have been misgendered and deadnamed by my teachers. A boy I know yelled at me that I “couldn’t be a lesbian”. On the daily, I hear my peers “insulting” each other by calling each other gay There are some kids in my grade who say anti-LGBTQ slurs. My sexual orientation has affected my experience as a student. Nora, Kent, WA Lawmakers “need to do more to make people, especially teenagers, have a sense of community.” If I had been part of a classroom where discussions were prominent I would have a better understanding of myself, and the world that I am growing up in. I wish that I had been taught more as a young child, more about the social injustices of the world and more about who I could be. It is about accepting yourself for who you are and letting students know that they are not alone. Instruction does not mean telling a boy that if he plays with Barbies he’s transgender. There is no harm in telling children that you can love whoever you want and you can be whoever you want. will do the same to countless others, preventing them from learning about people who are different than them. Prohibiting the instruction of L.G.B.T.Q. But that is not true and my misunderstanding of our country led me to be uneducated and at risk of adding to the problem. Lee, Hoggard High School, Wilmington, NC “I wish that I had been taught more as a young child …”īefore 2020 the only truth I knew about race in America was MLK in black and white, and how all of the world’s race problems were solved by one man and his movement. Those who may feel different or outcast from their community need to know that they are not alone. This is a necessary conversation to have with younger children, for they might feel like they are disparate from their peers. When we fail to discuss things like these, we fail those who are different. When we fail to discuss things like this, a stigma is formed, resulting in the failure to protect those who need protection. By passing this bill, not only have they undermined previous progression towards a more normalized discussion of queer youth- but also put them in danger. We elect officials to benefit us, represent our best interests in our country. “When we fail to discuss things like these, we fail those who are different.” Homophobic-related bullying does occur a lot in my school and it really makes me upset how naive and ignorant some of the students are. I’ve been outed, bullied, had slurs thrown at me, and disregarded as a person because of what I identify with but now I’ve learned to speak out about it and not let it affect me.
Now, of course, I haven’t had the most positive experience with my gender identity and sexual orientation. The way my teachers have approached it is in a very open-minded and kindful manner, also being very accepting of those within the community (even wearing a pride cross on their lanyards every day and not just pride month). In my school, we are made known about sexual orientation and gender identity and even have organizations come in to talk about them.
They are limiting the knowledge and making people who identify differently from the “norms” as black sheeps and unwelcomed, on top of this law is now creating an extremely unsafe environment for young people.īut this also hit personally close to home for me, reading this as a person a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and having the privilege to be able to talk freely about it, I hope that states such as Florida soon realize the huge issue in passing this law. A state making it illegal to inform adolescents of sexuality and gender identity? That is extremely absurd and harmful. I was shocked to have seen what this article spoke about. Here is a look at their reactions: “This law is now creating an extremely unsafe environment for young people.” We invited students to tell us how the legislation could affect them and others. In a guest essay, Will Larkins, a high school student, spoke out against it: When he came out as gay, he said, “Education didn’t just give me a sense of self worth but also the knowledge of a community and lifeline there for countless young people.” Earlier this month, the Florida Senate approved the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.