It's always been a debate: should we teach LGBT+ content in schools? For some people, the answer to that question is simple. More conservative-leaning or homophobic people would say no. Why influence our precious cis-het children? That's unnatural, people can only be straight or cisgender. And can we forget what God thinks? Now, I'm not saying that everyone who is conservative and/or religious thinks that way. But that's an idea that's hurting the youth of the United States, despite best efforts made by LGBT+ people and allies.
There is a rich history concerning LGBT+ people that are constantly side stepped or erased completely because of a stigma around LGBT+ people and teaching about people who are considered different. Take Alan Turing for example. If you haven't dug around in World War Two history or in LGBT+ history, you probably haven't heard of him. Alan Turing was a code breaker for the UK in World War Two who broke the code the Nazis were using and pioneered the invention of the computer. And almost nobody knows about him because once the UK government found out he was gay, they sent him to conversion therapy. He was never the same after that and he was snubbed out of most of history. It's more than that as well. Even if a child was cisgender and heterosexual, they need to know that this is normal , even if so much of society tells them no. And LGBT+ children need to be told that they aren't freaks that need to be fixed. If you tell children that heroes of history can be a certain way and that its fine and normal, they won't think they're monsters, and they can face less discrimination at school. Internalized homophobia is a real thing that can happen and can cause someone to be at war with themselves for years, if not their entire life. And it happens because their family, their friends, the whole world is telling them that its wrong and sick and that they need to change. How about sex education for queer kids? Schools have heterosexual sex down pat, but gay child are left hanging as they wonder how they can get it done. More often then not they turn to the internet, which can be unreliable if looked at in the wrong places. I was lucky enough to have gotten the general idea from a very handy book called This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson (who is a trans woman!). I recommend that book for a variety of reasons. It's well written and very informational, I'm absolutely in love with it. In conclusion: excluding LGBT+ people from school is not an option. If we want to move forward as a society, we need to continue to be more inclusive. There are more than just cis-het child out there. Are they the only ones we want to feel accepted in life? Feel free to mull that over, but just know- LGBT+ people are going nowhere. And maybe, just maybe, we'll change the world one day. ~Cas (be gay do crime)
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Hello!My name is Cas, and I'm a asexual panromantic teen. I created this blog to make a safe space for everyone lgbt+. Here I will offer advice as well as look into lgbt+ pop culture, history, and current problems in our world today. Archives
July 2020
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