because I didn’t know what to do with
me! My mom, said, at first, that it was
just a phase. I told her that it WASN'T.
She's accepted me, too, and mutters that
my taste in women is better than my
taste in men. My father, unfortunately,
ignores the issue.

Pack, to the battle

Or at least, that’s how I felt. Moving
schools was not an option: I wasn’t
going back into the closet, and I believed
that I'd probably get the same reaction
everywhere else. This time, though, I
went with my head held high, and a big

do was direct them to a brochure for a
queer support group.

Eventually, I made a friend or two at
school. This made me feel better. I
ignored the insults even more. The only
thing that made me listen up were the
rumours going around. One that I was
molesting my little sister made me
incredibly angry—she was my SISTER!
The rest, though, were mostly specula-
tions on the state of my sex life. They
were quite humorous, especially since if
I was doing all those things, I wouldn't
have time for school or sleep! For
someone who “no one” liked, I was sure

summer of isolation ahead.

ecomirig okay

one, being queer was easier. It didn’t

t my writing, my drawing, my

oks or walks in the sun. I started to

e other friends, friends who did not
m to care when I told them “straight
p” that I, well, wasn't. They weren't as
ose, especially geographically, and
idn’t replace my friends from school,
ut they were something. I thought a lot
bout my sexuality that summer. I
ealized that I was OK with me, but not
ith other people's reactions. Other

a relationship with a female!

It’s frightening to realize that even
though I am out of the closet, I am more
comfortable in relationships with men.
Why? Because, there are definite
guidelines and expectations set out.
Because I still had a claim on some
“normalcy.” Because I was so ingrained
to believe myself to be heterosexual, I
actually FEAR my depth of attraction
towards females. I don’t even know if I
am bisexual or a lesbian. It’s frightening,
and I’ve realized that I have to explore
these feelings, and find out where I
stand for myself. Of course, I feel

what many people had doubted. I truly
did enjoy girls, physically. They had
always been friends, and I'd always liked
their company, but now, there was
something else. There is no doubt in my
mind. This is what I enjoy.

I have some friends who are queer,
too, which often helps me remember
that I am not alone. Life is not always
hunky-dory, tho. Once a friend and I
were walking along, holding hands,
when a pick-up truck full of guys started
screaming “DYKES!!!” Since I’ve gotten
pretty damned sick of verbal harassment,
I was screaming back at them until they

   
   
  
 
 
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  
 

ple’s reactions were based in the fact
hat they did not really know or believe
hat being queer was not a crime, or a
ruel trick. I decided that since the
ople who reacted negatively were
viously ignorant, I would do much
tter without them.

I also came out to my mother, brother
d sister. My sister was a little weirded
ut, but she adjusted really quickly, and
s now quite the advocate when people
alk about her “weird sister” or homo-
xuals in general. My brother soon
ealed to me that he thought that he
ight not be straight either, and asked
e what he should do. I felt helpless,

icia Abramson
rom a guide for Teacher’ Assistants at the
niversity of California, Berkeley

 

  
   
 
 
 
  
  
   
   
  
   
  
  
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

va ne of your primary tasks
= 28a Teaching Assistant
will be to establish a
classroom environment
ef in which your students

comfortable participating in the
ducational process. The effective |
eacher is the one who can motivate
tudents to play an active role in class
iscussions, complete class assignments,
nsult the TA or professor when
earning problems occur and generally
inspire students to rise to the intellectual
allenges posed by the course work.

ut TA’s will be unable to complete

ese important tasks if they allow
omophobia to damage the educational
nvironment and risk offending and
ienating lesbian and gay students.

Lesbiaris arid Gags

in the Classroom

If you think only a few students will be
hurt by homophobic remarks and
prejudice, think again. Researchers have
repeatedly found that about 10% of the
population is lesbian or gay. This is
inclusive of all segments of society,
which means that at any given educa-
tional institution, there will be a
significant number of lesbian and gay
undergraduates. At UC Berkeley, a
campus noted for the diversity of its
student body, the number of lesbian and
gay students may even exceed this
percentage.

Though lesbian and gay students
constitute a significant group on
campus, they nonetheless encounter
prejudice and discrimination at school.
A recent survey of 247 lesbian and gay
students throughout the UC system
suggests that homophobia and hetero-
sexism are widespread among faculty,
staff, and students. Of all respondents,
85% reported that they encountered
anti-lesbian/gay prejudice—homopho-
bic remarks and jokes—from fellow
students, 50% from faculty and 55%

is by no means confined to casual
remarks or thoughtless jokes. This
prejudice has, according to the survey,
seeped into the educational process

from staff. But anti-lesbian/gay prejudice

dose of angry attitude. I answered back
to some of the heckles, or ignored them
all together. Once or twice, when a girl

was extremely vocally homophobic

towards me, I would “hit” on her to get
a petty form of revenge.

I didn’t just get abuse, though. I
found out that one or two kids admitted
to respecting me. I also found a whole
lot of questions. Since I was out, some
kids treated me like an expert on
sexuality. Some of the questions got a
little too personal. Some of them, I
couldn't answer. I usually told people to
look it up. Once or twice, a closeted kid
came to me for advice. All I felt I could

itself: 26% of the respondents reported
that required reading materials for their
UC courses contained anti-lesbian/gay
biases. One respondent found that,
“Sexuality class textbooks group gays
with paedophiles, transsexuals, and
bestiality.” Other comments on
prejudice in course texts included the
following: “Human sexuality class still
has some books describing gays as
having no long-term goals and always
leading depressing lives. Ditto for some
abnormal psych books”; “One Univer-
sity extension course grouped homo-
sexuality along with ‘crimes and
diseases,’ such as alcoholism, rape and
prostitution.”

Definitieris

Heterosexism: A belief in the superiority
of heterosexuality; policies and practices
which serve to elevate heterosexuality
and subordinate homosexuality.
Homophobia: 1. Fear, dislike or hatred of

lesbians and gay men. 2. Discrimination
against lesbians or gay men.

The Facts Shout
Homophobia at UC

Survey data reveals that anti-lesbian/gay
prejudice is common in UC Berkeley
classrooms. The Classroom Climate
survey, completed in 1984 by the ASUC
Academic Affairs Office at UC Berkeley,
documented the fact that instructors at
the University are failing to establish a
nondiscriminatory educational environ-
ment, and that they are consequently
disrupting the learning process for
lesbian and gay students. Eighty-two
percent of the lesbian/gay respondents in
this survey strongly agreed with the
statement “Sometimes instructors make
comments that reflect stereotyped ideas
about lesbians/gays,” and 69% strongly
agreed with the statement “Sometimes I
feel left out of class because of my sexual
preference.” The ASUC survey revealed

‘that lesbian and gay students were the

most uncomfortable in class—more so
than even the ethnic minority, disabled,
and female students surveyed.

“Some years ago teachers and writers
recognized that not all students and
readers were white; some were black and
some were Asian, some were Chicano.
More recently they recognized that not
everyone was male; there were women

the subject of a lot of conversations.

By the time I graduated, I was quite
comfortable with myself. All I knew was,
I could deal with what had been dished
at me during the past three years. But it
was not easy. I often went home and
wanted to cry or scream. I sometimes
walked out of situations, to avoid them.
I always had to remind myself that I was
not BAD, it was THEM who were
making things unpleasant. I only hoped
that other queer students would find
ways to survive, too.

Outside

Got experience, sexually. I found out

@

sitting in classrooms and reading books.
Now it needs to be recognized that not
all students and readers are heterosexual;
some are gay and some are lesbian.”
Joseph A Devito, from Gayspeak: Gay
Male and Lesbian Communication.

There are many different ways in
which anti-lesbian/gay prejudice has
manifested itself in classes. Some
students surveyed reported that
instructors made prejudiced or homo-
phobic comments on their papers: “One
professor thought I should have talked
more about gays being...mentally ill.”
There were also reports of students being
chastised by instructors for expressing a
lesbian/gay perspective in class: “The TA
called me a ‘man-hater’ and didn’t want
‘negative vibes’ in the classroom.” Anti-
lesbian/gay assumptions and prejudices
were encountered widely in faculty
lectures. One survey respondent
reported that “a lecture was given in
which homosexuality was considered
morally wrong,” and another said that in
a sociology class, the professor's sole
comment about gays was that they “have
no community. A street full of bars did
not constitute a community.” That was
the extent of the discussion in a ten-
week course.”

Bias Uiiderthines
Edveatior.

Yet lesbian and gay students are not
the only ones who suffer from this bias;
it also serves to limit the intellectual
development of heterosexual students by
denying them access to accurate
information about lesbians and gays and
their contributions to society. For
instance, the history professor or TA
who is unaware of our negligence about
lesbian/gay history may—even inadvert-
ently—slight important lesbian/gay
issues, events and figures, leading

drove away. I guess hearing “YES, I am a”

dyke” was the last thing they expected.

Lately

Writing this article, and other factors,
have made me think a lot recently. I
realized that for someone who has
known that they are not straight for at
least six years, I have spent about half
that time in heterosexual relationships.
That means, living as a straight female,
which I am not! The whole time I am in
a hetero relationship, I am craving
women! Although I have had experience
with females, I haven't really explored
my feelings, fully. I haven't even been in

TeT’s guide for overcorhitig hornophobia itt the classreorh

students to graduate from college with
the mistaken assumption that all
historical figures are heterosexual. This is
called the heterosexual assumption or
bias. In this case, the teacher has failed
in his or her educational mission, and is
perpetuating ignorance instead of
transmitting knowledge. Remember that
as an educator, it is your responsibility to
teach your subject knowledgeably,
accurately, and in an unprejudiced
manner—and this applies to homo-
sexual topics as well as all others. So if
you allow the heterosexual assumption
or homophobia to pollute the educa-
tional environment in your classes,
youre not just “politically incorrect,”
you're not doing your job as a teacher.
Further compounding the problem of
homophobia in the classroom is the fact
that lesbians and gays are, as a whole,
not an easily identifiable group of
people. Very often, heterosexuals
erroneously believe they do not
personally know any homosexual people.
So while today, racist and sexist remarks
and attitudes are not acceptable in the
university community, homophobic
remarks and attitudes are tolerated,
largely because of the perceived absence
of homosexuals at the university. This
alleged absence, however, is only
imaginary. Lesbians and gays are present

. and active in every facet of education, as

educators, students, staff and as
contributors to the academic disciplines.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Don’t assume that everyone in the
classroom is heterosexual. Remember, at
least 10% of the population is lesbian
and gay. Avoid the heterosexual
assumption.

2. Monitor your own use of critical or
stereotypical terms to discuss lesbians or
gays or homosexuality. Discuss stere-

SEX

February 18 will be our annual sexuality
issue. Submission deadline is February 15.
We will accept any and all stories, story
TL LOSE RR LL

ungrounded, unsteady, unsure and
uneasy. (Enough with the alliteration,
already!)

The adventure, apparently, continues.
That’s the other difficult part about
writing this: There is no happy ending,
no riding off into the sunset. The only
thing I know is: I’m not straight, but I’m
not a bad person, and I’m grateful for
the love and support of my friends and
family who are along with me on the
strange trip we call life.

otypes in textbooks with the students in
your discussion sections. Students
should be encouraged to note when
textbooks contain both biased and
erroneous information. This contributes
to the development of critical thinking
skills, which are vital to the educational
process. ;

3. Don't rely on lesbian and gay
students to initiate discussion on the
topic of homosexuality. Often students
will not bring up the topic if they are
unsure if it is safe to do so. Don’t
hesitate to bring it up yourself first, for
that my be all that other students need
to contribute to the discussion.

4. Encourage students to do research
on lesbian/gay topics. If a student
approaches you with a proposal to
research some aspect of homosexuality
that is relevant to the course, do not
discourage the student from doing so.
Until the past two decades, very little
research had been done on lesbian and
gay topics, so there are great opportuni-
ties for both you and your students to
do groundbreaking work in this
important area.

5. Don't allow biased or stereotypical
comments to go unchallenged in the
classroom. In many cases, not only
lesbians and gay students will be
offended by blatantly homophobic or
anti-lesbian/gay remarks. Depending on
how you address such remarks, these
students may or may not feel free to
express their own discomfort with such
comments. Discourage offensive
humour directed at lesbians and gays.
Remember that just as you would not
accept offensive humour about women
or ethnic minorities, you should also not
accept offensive humour about lesbians
and gays.

Send submissions to sexuality issues
coordinator Kevin Sallows in room 1020, New
West, fax him 525-3505, or email
submit@op.douglas. be.ca .

 

 

 

The Pink Press February 11 1998 3