Safe Spaces- Gerri August

Gerri August
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Gerri August has strong feelings about those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. He strongly feels that they should be accepted b everyone no matter where they are. He talks about how schools should be the safe place for  students of LGBT but the classrooms do not have much exposure to it and this makes students not feel safe. August says “Even teachers who describe themselves as social justice advocates fail to challenge homophobic or transphobic language and images in many early childhood settings” (p. 86). With this being said we set the image of an “ideal” family in young children’s minds, we neglect to show the importance of transgender or homosexual parents. 

Ellen DeGeneres
In this article Ellen talks about how it was a scary thing to say the words “I’m gay” on her show. She talks about the emotions she has and makes the connection to how it is difficult for anyone to say those words. This article fits into what August says because Ellen then says that the public opinion about being gay makes people feel ashamed. August raises the issue of those who are LGBT are not accepted and this is a perfect example of how society does not accept it. 

Stats
This article is about the statistics of LGBT students. All the stats in this article really shocked me, they showed the physical and verbal abuse students got, missing class, how they do not feel safe in school all because of their sexual orientation. This article relates to August’s issue of students not feeling safe in the classroom and how they are not accepted by their surrounding peers. It is upsetting to me to see such high percentages because it shows that nothing is changing for LGBT students and some are going to extremes such as suicide to escape the pain. 

Points to share:

I was able to connect August’s reading to Grinner’s SCWAAMP. I was able to us the straightness aspect here. This is because in America we only value those who are straight. Those who are LGBT are not accepted in our society, although the issue is not as bad as it once was it is still there. I believe this will always be an issue because not everyone will be accepting of those with a different sexual orientation. I think August’s article is a must read and after reading it I feel some research on LGBT issues should be done to see the reality of how we treat those who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.