Teaching Out - LGBTQ Identities in the English Classroom

Over the past week I have had the opportunity to attend two different seminars on LGBTQ issues in education. The first seminar, "Teaching Out!", called professionals, teachers, students, advocates and supporters from boards all around the area to speak of the triumphs and challenges of the LGBTQ community in education. Discussion focused on the barriers and harassment that queer educators and students face on a regular basis, and how as teachers and allies we can help to improve the safety and acceptance of these students. Topics such as gender, bullying, suicide, as well as advocacy and GSAs made their way into the conversation. In the end, those who attended gained the perspective of two local high school students and GSA members. These students were able to share their story, as well as shed light on issues of gender based violence and homophobia which strongly affected their school community.

Within these seminars teachers and students shared their experience of how they brought LGBTQ perspectives into the classroom, and into the school community. In this discussion, much attention was brought to the English classroom and its potential for inclusion. Because of the flexibility of content and texts in an English class, these teachers felt a responsibility to make sure these perspectives made their way the classroom, into student writing and student discussion. Afterwords, I found myself hunting for texts that presented LGBTQ perspectives in a meaningful way. I needed the text to be appropriate, authentic, and compelling for students to read. In doing so I stumbled across Vivek Shraya's book "God Loves Hair".
 

*Illustrations by artist Juliana Neufeld*

Shraya is a Toronto based author and musician. His award winning book "God Loves Hair" includes 20 short stories and illustrations by Juliana Neufeld. The stories and artworks explore gender, sexuality and religion through the perspective of a young man whose family moves from India to Canada. I thought this graphic novel of sorts would be an interesting way to bring LGBTQ perspectives and the "coming out narrative" into the classroom. Being made up of short stories, the book is very accessible, as you could choose to use only a few excerpts or the entire book depending on time, desired topic or student maturity level. Keeping in mind the maturity level and interests of your classes, if I were to use this book, it would most likely be with a senior level class. Here is a trailer for the book! Enjoy!