Start Seeing Diversity: Gender, Sexual Orientation

Some of the ways I notice heterosexualism in children’s materials is in how the items are advertised.  A
“boy” toy is shown with a group of boys playing usually loudly, messy, and rough.  “Girl” toys are shown with clean, attractive female children playing together quietly.  The packaging of toys also indicates whether the toy is for boys or girls by the color and pictures on the package.

I want the people who are against depicting homosexuality in children’s materials to keep in mind that if a child who has never seen a pyramid or even a picture of a pyramid does not mean they do not exist.  It is up to schools and teachers to expand every child’s experiences and that includes talking about different types of people and families.  

I don’t know how I would handle it if a parent indicated they did not want any homosexuals caring for their child.  I hope that the program information on acceptance and inclusion that I give to the parents makes clear our position on the matter and help avoid such an instance.

When I taught middle school, it was common for students to call people or their ideas “gay” if they were doing something unpopular.  It was understood that this was unacceptable in my classroom, but it still happened occasionally.  One day, I overheard a student calling another’s idea “gay” and so I stopped the class to discuss the offense.  I explained to the students that being gay is just the way some people are.  It is part of their identity and something they can not change.  Since my class was made up of mainly black students I asked them how it would make them feel if I, a white teacher, referred to something I did not like by saying “that’s so black.”  Most of the students understood my reasoning and I never heard the term again.