Throughout
LGBTQ studies the topic of bullying and harassment toward queer individuals is
continuously apart of the discourse of LGBTQ community oppression. The
implementation of “safe spaces”
for the LGBTQ community is a necessity for the oppression that this
marginalized group constantly faces. Elaine Quijano’s CBS News article, “ The
Real, Deadly Toll of Bullying Gay Kids” provides an empirical example of where
access to a safe space could have could have prevented a young boy’s tragedy.
In this particular post I will provide a working definition of safe space and
use Barbara Smith and Nan Stein’s theories about homophobia and bullying to
further prove how a lack of safe spaces can enable harassment and oppression
among LGBTQ individuals.
A safe place is a place where member of an oppressed group can
go to express themselves in anyway they choose, knowing they will not be judged
while doing so. A place where participants
(LGBTQ and allies) can be assured they will not be confronted with homophobia,
bias, or violence. A safe space fosters an identifiable network of allies whom
provide support, information, and act as allies. Overall, it is a secure and
hospitable environment where LGBTQ people can retreat to inevitably be treated with
respect and dignity. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons
are under-represented, historic misconceptions and negative attitudes towards
homosexuals often lead to destructive behavior on their behalf. Thus, support
through multiple types of safe spaces is pertinent for this community.
In
a recent article by Elaine Quijano, “The Real, Deadly Toll of Bullying Gay
Kids”, a young boy’s (Jamey Rodemeyer) combat with bullying due to his
sexuality comes to the spotlight after his suicidal death. The unrelenting
homophobia and harassment that this young boy went through on a daily basis
could have been alleviated had his school provided more resources and support
groups to act as a safe space for him to turn to. At school he had been
“bullied relentlessly since 5th grade…boys would say, ‘Geez you’re
such a girl. Why are you hanging out with all the girls? Oh, you must be gay’.”
(Quijano 2011) Although Rodemeyer “saw counselors to try to deal with the pain,”
he cried out about the harassment he dealt with via blog posting and through YouTube.
(Quijano) While mention was made to some acts of “cyber-bullying” that Jamey
faced, he ultimately felt that the Internet was his only safe-haven and posted
his cries for help online for any reader that would listen.
If
Jamey had more resources and supportive educators to turn to while at school
would he be alive today? We will never know the answer to this question but it
is relatively clear that Jamey’s school did not seem to provide an adequate
safe space where Jamey could discuss his feelings, the oppression he was
dealing with, and be free to be himself. In Nan Stein’s article, “Bullying,
Harassment and Violence Among Students” she makes the point that “ the laws
largely do not hold school administrators liable … but instead puts the onus of
solving the problem on the victim” (31), further proving that schools are
overwhelmingly under-providing for victims of sexual harassment. Stein further notes,
“gender is missing from the dominant construction of school safety and
violence”. (32) This is likely the reason the severity of the verbal violence
to Jamey was going unaddressed. Stein brings up many suggestions for school to
become “gender-safe”, one of which being designate ombudspeople who are “
ideally diverse in gender, sexuality, race, and nationality…whom students can
go to with concerns and who will act on their behalf” (33). Her idea of ombuds
and further school-based avenues to protect LGBTQ scholars reiterates the idea
of a safe space.
Safe
zones for LGBTQ students are just as important as safe and accepting zones in
for LGBTQ individuals in every social setting. However, as stated in the
article “Homophobia: Why Bring it Up?” by Barbara Smith, “curriculum that
focuses in a positive way upon issues of sexual identity, sexuality, and sexism
is still rare… schools are virtual cauldrons of homophobic sentiment” (114).
That being said a safe place for LGBTQ students should be of the utmost
importance for school educators and administrators above all. This idea of a
safe space can does not solely mean a separate physical retreat for LGBTQ
students but should also be efforts to educate students about sexual identity,
approachable and knowledgeable individuals to turn to, and a community that
negates homophobic behavior.
Bibliography
Smith, Barbara.
“Homophobia: Why Bring it Up?” from The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader.
ed Henry Ablelove et al New York & London: Routledge,1993.
Stein, Nan.
Bullying, Harassment, and Violence Among Students in Radical Teacher, No. 80, “Teaching Beyond Tolerance”,
Winter 2007 30-35.
Quijano, Elaine. “The real,
deadly toll of bullying gay kids- CBS News.” CBS Interactive Inc- CBSNEWS. 21
Sep. 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. < http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-20109797.html>
I agree with the main point of the article that safer spaces are important for deterring harassment, but I disagree that it would have helped in this particular situation. Education of all persons involved is often the best way, sometimes the only way, to avoid situations like gay suicides. It is true that resources may have helped Jamey, but it also could have alienated him from the world that does exist today that he would have to face. By looking at the physical harassment of LGBTQ-identified people through Van De Meer’s writings, it was shown that gay bashers find their actions acceptable or even sanctioned by society. They were “surprised and resentful about the fact that they had been arrested”. This shows an important lack of education that safe spaces could not accomplish alone.
ReplyDeleteI also disagree with the need for LGBTQ safe spaces to be the highest priority for schools. While it is true that social aspects play an important role in education, I think they are equally as important as the education itself. As another point, a safe space does not need to be for LGBTQ people specifically; there are many other minority groups that could benefit from this type of space. Administrators in school systems deal with all kinds of harassment and bullying every day, LGBTQ being a small part of a larger whole. It is important to adress these issues, but it is also important to not overlook the larger community, and to make sure the correct problems are addressed.
Sources
Theo Van De Meer “Bashing a Rite of Passage?” in Culture, Health and Sexuality, Vol. 5 No.2 pp 153-165
I totally agree with you that a lack of safe spaces for LGBTQ individuals enables harassments and oppressions. In particular, I argue that sexual education is one of the most effective ways to reduce sexism among adolescents and construct such spaces.
ReplyDeleteIn the article Gay bashing—a rite of passage, Theo Van Der Meer examines the logic of gay bashers behind their violent behaviors against homosexuals. According to Van Der Meer, gay bashers in Holland, most of them 15-22 years old, can create an image of “hard” “strong” man for themselves by engaging in acts of violence against homosexual males, who are deemed as “soft” and “weak” (161). This adolescent way to police the masculine boundary and assert manhood by degrading homosexuals largely results from their common misunderstandings about gay individuals. Van Der Meer reports that gay bashers consider homosexuality as an innate feminine disorder or a bad habit that can be overcome through self-control (160). If those gay bashers had received enough formative knowledge about sexual identity from schools, they might not form such distorted views. Furthermore, in an intolerant society, acts of violence and harassment against homosexuals are too many and too difficult to get caught, for the victims usually rather not to report in the fear of embarrassment. However, education is a powerful tool that can ultimately change those oppressive opinions, promote diversity and tolerance in a culture, and vastly prevent teenage tragedies like the death of Jamey Rodemeyer and Lawrence king. In short, education is of tremendous significance in the construction of safe spaces for LGBTQ individuals.
Works Cited
Van Der Meer, Theo. "Gay Bashing: A Right of Passage?" Health & Sexuality. 5.2 (2003): 153-165. Print.
I agree that it is extremely important for high school educators to construct a safe space for LGBTQ youths. Of course other forms of harassment occurs all the time in high school, but I must argue that the effects do not come close to the effects of gay bashing. Educating kids on what is right or wrong, and to expand their horizons is of the utmost importance and it starts as early as elementary school. According to Rubin, throughout the 1950s in San Francisco the media and police routinely raid bars and harass homosexuals (Rubin). If kids grow up learning that harassment is fun, and even done by government agencies that are supposed to keep us in check, then our society is surely moving towards a destructive path. Therefore, it is vital that school educators, particularly in high school and college, put the issue of education and creating space spaces for minority groups of all kinds.
ReplyDeleteBibliography
Rubin, Gayle. "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" from Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies ed. Peter M Nardi and Beth Schneider. 1993.