Talking Point #3

Dennis Carlson, Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

1. "To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease." (Carlson 237)

This quote really made me think; I can't believe that I have never noticed this before. I grew up in a family that really pushed me to be accepting of other people so I feel like I was more aware of homosexuality than other students in my classes. However, I totally understand how people would categorize homosexuality as a negative thing if they only place that they learned about it was in the same place that they learned about health related issues. This is extremely unfair to people in the gay and lesbian community. I think many children come from families that shy away from talking about things such as homosexuality, which is why I agree with Carlson that it is imperative that teachers recognize homosexuality in school.

2. "'In my sociology class we were talking about AIDS. One guy said, 'I think gay guys are just sick. How could they do that? It's wrong!' ...Well, everyone looks over to Miss L., our teacher, for what she thinks. She says, 'I'm going to keep my opinion to myself.'". (Carlson 238)

This quote completely reminded me of Johnson. This is a perfect example of a teacher who chose to silence an issue rather than talking about it and helping to make a change. I think it is the responsibility of teachers to protect the rights of all students. While I believe they are responsible to protect the ideas of the student who made claims against gay men, they must also stand up for the rest of the students who are opposed to his ideas. Being open to discussion about these issues is a very successful way for teachers to embrace difficult situations and help students feel welcome and comfortable in their learning environment. By avoiding the conversation, nothing is being accomplished.

3. "...gay culture has been overwhelmingly 'white' and this makes it difficult for many young black gay people to affirm both their gayness and their blackness." (Carlson 248)

I think this quote is extremely important because it relates to different kinds of privilege. Because African Americans are denied the right to racial privilege, it is understandable that it would be harder for them to give up their straight privilege as well. Giving up the right to privilege has a huge impact on the easiness of a person;s life. I could only imagine that someone who is already denied particular privilege would have a strong understanding of the difficulties they are faced with as a result. Therefore, it must be harder to them, knowing what they will be faced with, to give up another privilege.

This was a very powerful article. I could hardly get through it without stopping to blog about it because I feel like there were so many points made that shocked me or left me wondering. I think Carlson and Johnson would get along well. There were many examples provided in Carlson's piece that strongly reminded me of Johnson. Carlson's article focuses largely upon silencing homosexuality in classroom settings. As Johnson also mentioned in his article, silencing something is the worst way to produce change. Carlson's article goes on to prove this statement as he provides examples of how gay men and lesbian women are slowly starting to feel acceptance as popular culture has begun to address these issues and show people that it is aright to talk about them.

I think incorporating homosexuality into the classroom is much more difficult than other topics due to religion. As Carlson mentions in this article, many believers of the Catholic religion have strongly opposed ideas such as bringing in books and allowing lessons which talk about homosexuality inside the classroom. I think this makes homosexuality extremely hard to talk about in mixed crowds, like schools, but is clearly something that needs to be addressed. The statistics prove that silencing homosexuality is having horrific contributions to teen suicide, drug use, etc., and the easiest way to help change these rates is by welcoming their differences and encouraging them to be open about their feelings.