GLSEN 1.0

                       






                              










I attended GLSEN 1.0 on the morning of October 2, 2017 at the San Diego Department of Education. The training was held in an intimate environment, in a classroom-sized portable with approximately twenty-five attendees and three facilitators. Breakfast burritos, fruit, and coffee were provided despite the fact that the training was free, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Although I am not currently placed in an elementary school site, I attended the training that was geared toward elementary students. The reason for this is because throughout all of my experiences working with LGBT youth, educators have not established one specific way of what is appropriate to discuss in the school setting- particularly at the young elementary age.

 In my experiences, even a large majority of those who consider themselves to be liberal believe that students should only be recognized by their birth sex (not their gender identification) and that same-sex relationships are an inappropriate topic to even mention. I attribute this to the damaging legacy that many stereotypes and misconceptions have historically imposed on LGBT communities and their identities. Historically, homosexuality and other forms of sexual or gender deviance have been labeled as perverse or sinful, both of which individuals want to protect their young children form being exposed to. Furthermore, the sex part of homosexuality has traditionally been emphasized more than the relational aspects of it. In our heteronormative society, homosexuality is seen as a sexuality whereas straightness is overlooked or is just seen as "normal."  Discussions surrounding sex being something that Euro-centric cultures began to hide from children beginning during Victorian times, it is obvious why our education system would shun curricula with LGBT content.

Questions Answered:

How can I be a supportive ally to LGBT youth at the elementary age?

How do I discuss bullying, gender roles or family diversity with elementary students? 

How can I include positive representations of LGBT people in the elementary curriculum? 

How do I inspire my elementary students to be kind and speak up when they see bullying?

During the training, the facilitators mentioned that one way to support trans students is to call them by their preferred name and pronoun and to allow them to use gender neutral bathrooms or bathrooms that match their gender identity. Even though they pointed toward specific policies that protect the students' rights in this regard, attendees became argumentative with them. A principal suggested the scenario of a parent who wanted their child to only be recognized for their birth name and sex on campus. This principal stated, understandably, that she would have a really difficult time disrespecting parents' wishes because the student is under twelve. The facilitator simply argued that all they have to tell the parents is that its a law that needs to be followed. This is a shortcoming of the training that I will discuss further in subsequent paragraphs.

Policies that Facilitators Referred to:

Safe Schools Improvement Act
Student Non-Discrimination Act
No Promo No Homo Law


As someone who loves children's literature, I was pleased to look through some of their book suggestions. I think that pointing parents, students, and teachers toward books like these is a great way of broaching a topic in a lighthearted and "in-sexual" way.
Here are some of the books that were on display during the training:


                

During the training, the facilitators explained concrete ways of working with parents who are opposed to having a welcoming environment for LGBT students. They modeled to us how to present the laws and policies to parents smoothly and non-confrontationally. They also showed us how we could explain to the parent the school climate surveys and how it is the job of all educators on campus to support a healthy and safe environment for all students. One of the shortcomings of this training, however, was that the presenters seemed to be out of touch with what it is like to work in a highly conservative school where parents beliefs are grounded in strong religious beliefs that a law or policy could not sway.

If I was a principal of an elementary, I would definitely implement the ideals that this group teaches- creating a gender neutral and gender expansive school environment. I am highly aware that it would be easier to implement in certain schools and very difficult in others. Regardless, all teachers should be given trainings on this topic. The way that I would measure its effectiveness would be to administer school climate surveys wherein I asked about harassment based on sex, gender, or sexual orientation.

As a counselor, I will weave the curriculum into my guidance lessons and I will provide trainings for staff on how they can include it into their curriculum also. Some of this includes teaching media literacy by asking students to look at families that they see on television and reflect on how they might be different from their own families. This is not limited to looking at the genders of the parents; students can address that their are different types of homes than are shown in media (apartments, trailers, etc.). The training provided a book with curriculum and specific lessons for students that I can use in my guidance lessons or present to the principal to be taught school-wide by teachers at the beginning of the school day (as PBIS is taught) and eventually integrated into the values of the school. Something that I think would be very beneficial would be to have adult individuals who identify as LGBT come in and share their negative experiences in elementary in front of an audience of parents and educators. This could help to remind parents and educators that their children will become adults one day who will potentially remember what it was like to be either supported or bullied by their communities and what they wish educators and parents would have done to support them when they were in elementary. Teachers are not going to want kids growing up into adults who remember them as the person who would not respect their gender identity. Parents are not going to want their kids growing up to remember them as someone who was contributing to anti-gay bullying rather than protecting them. I think that this could give everyone some helpful perspective.