The Educator's Guide to LGBT+ Inclusion. Kryss Shane
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with something significant. This is not meant to be the same sort of conversation as if you were discussing favorite bands; it is instead a way that you are being asked to absorb and take in their experience.
Next, learn from those lessons being shared, knowing that your LGBT+ students and LGBT+ colleagues are telling you something important. While it is common for people in majority groups to place the blame of negative interactions on minority members, listening to these stories can result in better understanding of how and why people are victimized. As is the case in any attack or victimization, it is never the victim’s fault. It is never appropriate to ask a person why they didn’t behave differently; it is instead necessary to validate that you have heard what they’ve shared, that you acknowledge their trust in you with a vulnerable part of themselves, and that you do not turn it into an opportunity to blame the victim for what someone else did to them.
Next, talk about it with others without outing the student or colleague. When you are talking with others about the issues and stigma that LGBT+ people face, be sure to keep the stories that you tell of other people’s lives vague enough so that you are not outing those who shared with you to new people. You can start with “I have a student who…” or “I heard about a teacher at another school who…” If the details of the story are something you find necessary to be heard by others, discuss this with the person who shared with you. Ask them if they would be open to sharing their story. Offer to go with them and sit by them if they agree to share their story. Or, if they are unwilling or unable, ask them if they would help you figure out what part of the story they would feel comfortable with you sharing. This allows them to remain in control of their own experiences, their personal stories, and their own truth. Once you have received the information and experience that an LGBT+ person has shared with you, think about how you can use this new knowledge to help bring about more inclusion and better resolutions to minimize safety concerns.
Finally, donate your time and your support to your LGBT+ students and colleagues. Find ways to use the resources that you have to support inclusive policies and supportive programming. This may be by advising for a club or group that supports diversity and inclusion, it may be in encouraging the group or activity you chaperone to learn about LGBT+ people or current laws, or it may be by integrating LGBT+ leaders into your group’s learning experience. This allows LGBT+ people the benefit of having a majority person on their side without it leading to a concern that you may breach their privacy, create unsafe situations for them, or turn the situation into something that is about you.
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Privilege
There has been a lot of discussion and debate about what privilege means, both as a term and how it impacts an individual’s life. In reality, almost all of us have some modicum of privilege, whether overt or not. In fact, nearly all of us also have some situations in which we lack privilege. The point of acknowledging privilege is not to put down people who were or were not born a certain way or to blame people with privilege for having it. It is simply meant to lead to mindfulness. This allows a person to recognize the ways in which they benefit, which may not be something they regularly (or ever) consider.
What counts as privilege?
Anything that you get the benefit of that others do not counts as privilege. For example, if you can walk, talk, see, breathe, and eat on your own, there is privilege. If you live where there is not a war occurring, if you were taught to read, if you have access to sanitary supplies (including tampons/pads, toilet paper, soap, etc.) and clean water, there is privilege. If, in television and films, you see couples and love stories of people of your gender and the gender of people you are attracted to, there is privilege. If you identify as the gender that matches your genitalia, there is privilege. If you are young or classically attractive or financially stable or well fed or have air conditioning in your home or have a working vehicle or have access to medication when you are unwell or own books or watch television or have a smartphone or know how to drive or have a choice of clothing in your closet or sleep in a comfortable bed or consistently have electricity or bathe in warm water or have a consistent address, those are all privileges.
Why does privilege matter?
Too often, a conversation about privilege becomes an argument over who has more privilege than whom, which privilege is better to have than which other privilege, or what negative experiences counteract which privileges. This makes sense because it can be easy to assume that recognizing having privilege would be the same as claiming to have no problems or no right to complain about having problems. That’s simply unrealistic and it can certainly inflame a conversation quite quickly. However, recognizing our privileges can help us to become more mindful of those who do not have what we have, as well as helping to articulate our needs to those who have what we do not.
For example, by recognizing that not everyone in your school has consistent food access, a school or its staff member may become more aware of areas where wasted cafeteria food could be donated to those in need who may otherwise miss meals at home. By recognizing that not every student identifies as heterosexual, pamphlets and other sex education materials can be reviewed to ensure that all sexualities are included so that all students gain access to information about how to protect themselves and their partners during sex. By recognizing that not all students may be open about their sexuality, a health class teacher, guidance counselor, or other caring staff member may find a place to put these pamphlets and resource materials that is private enough so that all students can access them without having to do so in front of peers. By recognizing that the school may have not yet experienced a lawsuit by an LGBT+ student, family, or staff member for discrimination means that the school can begin to examine areas in which improvement is needed, and there is an opportunity to make these changes before or without creating conflict or legal ramifications because of the poor experience of an LGBT+ person.
In short, the purpose of defining one’s privilege as an individual, as a department, as a school, or as a school district is not to belittle or undermine occurring problems or stressors. It is simply to examine the ways in which the existing structure and schema benefit some while being detrimental to others. Once this awareness is obtained, it can be easy to begin to assess where there are areas that can be improved upon, which can lead to change, and which in turn can lead to a more inclusive and affirming school for all.
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Intersectionality
Although the definition section is intended to be all-encompassing, it seems inappropriate not to provide a separate place to discuss and recognize intersectionality. Coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989, the term identifies the intersection of being a member of more than one minority group. It recognizes that each group’s membership comes with its own struggles and that the intersection of two or more memberships is more than simply the sum of society’s mistreatment of each group within which a person identifies. The definition in this context is acknowledging that although an LGBT+ identity is, in itself, a minority status, many individuals exist within the intersection of two or more minority groups, which directly impacts their school experiences.
As one can imagine, each group that they are a part of causes them to be the target of misunderstanding and injustice, and to be at a higher risk of being victimized. The comic Wanda Sykes has built this into many of her comedy routines and interviews she has given, as she identifies as female, Black, and a lesbian. Her appearance allows the general public to assume her to be female and to identify her skin tone, leaving her already in a minority group at the intersection of female and Black. This individual exists at the intersection of female and Black and gay, creating three ways in which others may be biased against her, further causing her and others with this shared intersectionality to be that much more discriminated against than someone with only one of those three minority statuses, which is more discrimination than someone without any of these minority statuses faces.
In some cases, the identity of intersectionality may appear obvious. In other cases, there may be minority group status that may be more difficult for the casual observer to identify. In addition, there