Intro:
The United States has made enormous steps forward regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and asexual (LGBTQA) rights. In addition to a diminishing stigma, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in 2015 that effectively allowed same-sex marriage in the United States. Steps like these give hope to the LGBTQA community that better days are coming, and that an era of discrimination is coming to an end. Being gay, bi, queer, or anybody else is no longer a crime; today’s youth are becoming emboldened to claim their sexuality in a public forum that is more accepting of them than ever before.
However, the fight is not yet finished. Many American institutions are inherently homophobic; they continue to promote a heteronormative narrative that teaches people that homosexuality is different, deviant, and unhealthy. The United States’s public school system is one of these institutions. Despite teaching students of every gender, sexuality, and orientation, public schools by and large are using curricula that assume a heterosexual norm. According to the experts, these heteronormative curricula not only exclude LGBTQA students, but actively create a hostile, homophobic environment.
The Problem:
- https://www.safeatschool.ca/plm/equity-and-inclusion/understanding-sexism-racism-and-homophobia/homophobia-and-gender-based-discrimination
- http://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/linguistics/thats-so-gay-homophobic-language-and-school
- https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/12/15/toxic-homophobia-still-festers-americas-schools
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15388220.2012.732546
- http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022487107313160
- The Point: Current public school curricula reinforce negative ideas about homosexuality and non-heterosexual identities
The Solution:
- https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/lessons
- https://www.glsen.org/learn/research/national/teaching-respect
- https://www.hrc.org/blog/hrcs-new-back-to-school-guide-helps-parentsteachers-allies-of-trans-kids-bu
- http://etd.fcla.edu/CF/CFH0003852/Mollentze_Shanine_2011May_ElementaryEducation.pdf
- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-pino/the-necessity-of-lgbt-inclusive-curriculum_b_6928438.html
- The Point: LGBTQA-inclusive curricula exist, are proven to create a more accepting school environment, and create a healthier America
Hey
Just want to start off by saying, love your topic, love what you are advocating for! I enjoy how you started with the progress we’ve made as a country because I feel like this is an important thing to recognize and it also makes the essay better because you concede that there has been progress but you ask for more. To me, this makes the essay stronger because you aren’t just attacking your asking people to continue the fight which I think is much more effective. I like how you broke your essay down into the problem and the solution, I think that this was a great way that you can organize your ideas and ensure that your audience is also informed. I feel like this is important since I think a lot of times people just don’t know what’s going on so how are they supposed to understand the solution if they don’t understand the problem.
Can’t wait to read your completed essay!