Pride Month

Pride Month

By Haley Ware, Education Coordinator

Helloooo June! With June comes the start of summer, and a time to relax and have some down time. In the world’s current pandemic, I am aware that summer break might not be an option for some. Some schools have extended, kids are still learning online, we are still in our homes and trying to stay safe. This has hit us as educators hard, and even more so to the communities that have celebrations. One community that celebrates in June is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, + (LGBTQIA+) community. June is Pride Month and you will start to see more and more coming out stories. I would like to share mine with you. 

Growing up in the religious south in the late 90’s-early 2000’s, I never knew anything aside from a heterosexual relationship. I had no idea anything else existed. There were no movies or TV shows with like characters. I only knew of Ellen and Rosie O’Donnell, but my parents were not always a fan of me watching them. When I go back and think about it now, it’s surreal in a way. Someone should have known, there were so many signs. I had no LGBT education, it wasn’t even addressed in the sexual education part of health class. Health class was all male and female, and we were even seperated by our biological sex for some lessons. Since this is what I grew up with, I put myself in straight relationships because I was under the impression this is what I needed to do. I was in 8th grade or so when I found out I had a gay cousin, but still nothing more than that. I was 19 when I realized I didn’t belong to this “straight” box. This is still young to make such a realization. Mentally, I was confused because growing up in straight relationships, and having no education on what LGBT was, I felt like I was wrong. I struggled to make friends and find a community. My personality and my interests were very liberal. I wish I had known about the LGBT community when I was younger or had someone else to discuss it with. I would have felt like I wasn’t alone and would have had a place to fit in, or at least someone to talk to it about. When I finally had my “I am a lesbin” revolution, I finally had something to connect with to help me feel more comfortable and confident with who I was. 

Today we have educational resources at our fingertips to teach kids at school about LGBTQIA+ awareness but I fear it is not being used to its advantage. LGBTQIA+ education in schools is important. While society has made strides in LGBTQIA+ acceptance there is still present homophobia and bullying inside schools and society at whole. Educating students about this could help open them up to acceptance as they grow into adults. If it is taught in schools, we can not only teach acceptance, but create a safe space for those students to feel like they can be themselves. This is critically important in creating a better learning environment for all. Here are some valuable resources that you might be able to use to open up this dialogue in your classroom. 

General 

Books 

Lesson Plans

This LP gives students an understanding of the different pronouns and how to use them for people that classify as transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary.

Articles 

Activities