August Safe Spaces Reflection

   Just to share a little bit about my background in relation to LGBTQ Communities: Growing up I was raised strictly Catholic. Church every Sunday, CCD every Saturday, fasting during Lent, Grace before meals, etc. This brought an understanding that women married and loved men and men married and loved women. There was no same-sex couples and that it was a sin and something to be ashamed of if you were gay. Due to this strict upbringing I was uncomfortable around anyone who was gay. This lasted a very long time, that was until one of my cousin's cousin started bringing her girlfriend around. Sarah and Michelle changed my whole view on people who were gay. My family was still a little skeptical until my cousin Olivia came out. She was worried that my family would reject her but they-we did the opposite. We accepted her for who she is and told her that if liking girls was what made her happy, then thats all that matters. There are still varying views in the Christian community about gay marriage, but in the Pope's recent visit to the United States, he met with a former student who happened to be in a gay relationship. During that visit he introduced his signifiant other to the Pope. The Pope was not condemning or judgmental but rather accepting and he even embraced his former student. 
   I am still very religious but in an ever changing world, there are some things that I do not believe as strictly as I once did. If loving and marrying the same-sex is what makes you happy, then go for it and don't let anyone stop you. My Priest talks every Sunday about accepting everyone who is different- including those who are gay- and to pray for those in hard times. Sarah and Michelle have two beautiful little girls and my cousin Olivia is in a very happy, healthy relationship with a girl named Nicole. 
   To get back to August's reading, she talks about "curriculum and communication- distinct but interrelated aspects of classroom life. Neglect one, and the other is bound to suffer; improve one, and the other will likely benefit" (August 85). I went to a high school where there were cliques and if you didn't belong to the popular group, you were an outcast. This included anyone who was part of the LGBTQ Club. Everyone in the "popular" clique hated the LGBTQ Club because they "rubbed" their differences- or rather indifference to those who were gay- in everyone's fave. There were times when they would get away with things that others wouldn't and because of it, people felt like they were using their LGBTQ Club "status" as an advantage. Ridiculous, considering that anyone who is gay or associates themselves with someone who is gay is more often then not, disadvantaged and has little privilege in our society today. Yes, these kids were just high school students who didn't like anyone who wasn't a part of their clique, but that is the sad reality of life. Adolescents face the most scrutiny and pressure to fit in. And if they don't fit in, they are bullied. But it is not just peers who bully but teachers and faculty stereotype. Everything in a classroom and the lessons taught, are geared to heterosexuality  and no one is challenging it because as August and Delpit put it, "its the path of least resistance"(84). 
    I don't know how much things have changed in my high school or in the high schools around the country, but I do know that there at least baby steps in the right direction of not only tolerance but acceptance of those who are LGBTQ and supporters. We've only just begun this relay race of LGBTQ equality in our communities and in our world. With August's views put into action and reality, changing the classroom communication and curriculum, will make acceptance easier to accomplish.