Dear reader,
While the text set and sources provided in the body of this blog establish valuable, research-based reasoning for the inclusion of LGBTQ discourse and literature in contemporary American K-12 classrooms, the scope of this topic reaches leagues further. To expand on your own unique understandings and develop more exposure to literature that emphasizes and speaks to the realistic significance of issues that fall under this umbrella initialism, visit websites like Live Out Loud, Point Foundation, and It Gets Better. These sites support, encourage, and educate LGBTQ youth, their families, educators, and friends to “see how love and happiness can be a reality in their future[s].” This video sparked the inspiration for the It Gets Better movement in particular, which has proved an extremely positive and impactful resource for LGBTQ youth, as well as motivation for change in local communities across the nation. It Gets Better was transformed into a book in 2011. On the site, any willing reader may donate a copy of this text to a school of their choice anywhere in the United States. These resources, among a variety of others, speak volumes about how LGBTQ rhetoric, communities, and widespread perceptions are becoming more and more accepted in mainstream contemporary society. As an important and authentic topic for many American youths in today’s schools, LGBTQ awareness deserves, and needs to be made an integral part of children’s and adolescent’s educational foundation.
The Trevor Project is another national organization that deals with pressing issues surrounding LGBTQ youth. This organization in particular provides intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people from ages 13-24. Trevor was originally a short film produced in 1994 by Randy Stone and Peggy Rajski. It won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film that year, despite the main character being a homosexual who struggles throughout the short with bullying, suicidal thoughts, and his own identity as a gay male adolescent in the 1980’s. For educators and readers looking for information and curricular resouces that appeal to more general issues of tolerance, diversity, and difference among children and adolescents in school contexts, Teaching Tolerance is a great site to visit to begin your search. This site includes links to their longstanding journal, professional development opporunities, classroom resources, and "film kits," among other helpful literature and suggestions for activities to help promote tolerance in elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. Teaching Tolerance refers to themselves as "a place for educators to find thought-provoking news, conversation, and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity, and respect for difference in schools."
Explanation of the Topic:
LGBTQ (an initialism which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) transcends the written word and has become mainstream in communities and the media as a means of describing or identifying the diversity of contemporary perceptions of sexuality and gender-identity based cultures. Although the scope of this initialism is a widespread and controversial topic across a variety of social, political, and developmental contexts, this blog will emphasize its inclusion in children’s and young adult literature, how the content it lends itself to translates in these forms, and what value they provide in an academic, instruction-based environment. Thus, this blog will attempt to reach elementary, middle school, and high school pre-service and certified educators who are looking for texts to select for their own current or future classrooms. In the hopes that educators who read this blog will recognize the benefit and need to include LGBTQ literature in their text sets, this collection and subsequent overview of the genre will span a variety of treatments of topics that emerge from it, including acceptance, difference, and the negotiation of identity. In order to stress the importance of LGBTQ literature as a scaffold and supplementary text for traditional themes of instruction across K-12 grade levels, the following text set will include picture books, chapter books, and adolescent novels, written from multiple gendered, age-specific, and cultural perspectives.
Rationale:
The topic of LGBTQ is relevant for all ages in school. Many students today have had to face this topic in one way or another. The topic of LGBTQ in schools has been one of the causes for bullying and unacceptance among peers. Teachers can help provide support for their students by sharing books that may help them feel accepted, and help others gain a better understanding on the topic so that they may be more accepting to their peers who may just be a little different. In Blackburn’s article, she writes, “my purpose is to build upon the literature representing queer youth…as agents rather than victims” (p. 316), which is the reasoning for this topic and literary genres listed below. Another rationale for having a topic about LGBTQ is to provide the class with a diverse set of texts that they could use in their classrooms, Garcia writes, “LGBTQI books have their own internal representation problems. These books tend to primarily focus on gay, white men.” (p. 90), hopefully our text set will allow teachers to have a wide range of LGBTQ books to select for their own classrooms.
This topic is also relevant in the earlier grades is because acceptance for individuals who are different starts very young. Not only does this topic help young learners gain knowledge on diverse families, but it helps them to understand and accept their own different identities. Vetter writes that “K-12 classroom teachers can integrate opportunities for students to explore and negotiate identities throughout the year without transforming their entire language arts curriculum” (p. 106), it is important to realize that this topic should not be a “theme” in a classroom but something that scaffolds and is included within other genres and texts.
Overview of Literary Genres:
Books that have main characters from the LGBTQ community are few and far between. It is a genre of writing that is just now starting to take off. Through different social media sites like Tumblr, sections dedicated to LGBTQ literature are growing. The Stonewall Book Award is an award that is given out to books each year since 1971 that exhibit exceptional merit that relates to the LGBTQ experience. This year, 2014, the winners for childrens and young adult fiction were Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills and Fat Angie by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo. Within this literary genre is a lot of different media that can be incorporated into the classroom as well. The aforementioned ‘It Gets Better’ project, focuses on sending a positive message to members of the LGBTQ community to help inspire change in the world. This project has a website as well as many videos on YouTube where many everyday people and celebraties spread the message that “it gets better” and share their stories.
The music video for Same Love has had an equally, if not more significant impact on viewers and listeners, whether they identify as LGBTQ or not. The video condenses decades of time into a 7 minute love story, depicting the social conflicts its main character encounters and overcomes in response to his sexual orientation, his marriage to his lover, and their final parting in old age.
Sharing and discussing this song with young learners would be a visually engaging way to preface and motivate appropriate and accepting conversations regarding LGBTQ issues in contemporary society. This video could also seamlessly supplement a unit on modern politics, and how topics of same-sex marriage, and gay and lesbian identity have influenced and altered the minds of many of our country's forward thinking population. Analyzing and making connections to the written lyrics for this track, after having viewed the video, would prove a meaningful way to engage students in developing their digital and media literacies, while remaining cognisant of how their perceptions to these technologies affects their understandings of the subjects they emphasize.
This book is about a boy named Andy whose Uncle Mike is getting married to another man, Eric. This book describes Andy’s experience throughout this event, and how he feels and prepares for this exciting event. This book is about family and tolerance towards others and is a great book for teaching Elementary students about diverse families, tolerance, and equality.
My Uncle’s Wedding fits into the LGBTQ theme by telling the story of a same-sex marriage. The main character in the story is a young boy, who many young readers can relate to. The boy in the story shares his feelings and experiences with the readers on his Uncle’s wedding. This story fits in with the theme because it shows tolerance on a topic that many readers may not fully understand or be comfortable with.
This book can be used in an Elementary library for students who may be struggling to deal with different families. Teachers could use this book to help teach young readers about acceptance, or to show a young reader that its okay if their family is a little different. Due to the LGBTQ topic being frowned upon still in schools, I suggest using this book for young students that may be having issues related to the topic of same-sex marriages.
The story And Tango Makes Three is a true story about two male penguins who live at the Central Park Zoo. The two penguins struggle because, even though they are just as in love as the other penguin couples, they have not been able to have a baby penguin. One day, a worker at the Zoo gives them an egg that does not have any parents and they happily accept this egg and raise their own child together.
This text connects to the theme of LGBTQ because it shows a different type of family to the readers. And Tango Makes Three is about two fathers raising a child happily on their own. The story shows acceptance, and how two parents don’t necessarily have to be a mom and a dad to be good parents.
When applying this text into the schools I think it fits well in an Elementary setting. This is a great book to teach acceptance, and to show students who may have a similar family to Tango, that it is okay to be different. This book can be used to help a child who has been adopted or to help a child understand that all families are different.
My Princess Boy is about a four year old boy who enjoys wearing dresses, and anything pink or sparkly. This book is written from the mothers point of view where she shares the positive and negative opinions she receives regarding her son’s preferences to things that are traditionally meant for girls.
This book goes with the theme of LGBTQ because it embraces uniqueness among young boys, and shows acceptance for children who may cross the traditional gender lines when it comes to clothes, toys, or colors. This book teaches acceptance for anyone and everyone, and to not judge others by the way that they look.
When applying this Elementary text into schools, I think its a great opportunity to teach students about acceptance and bullying. This text is especially good for Pre K-Kindergarten because there are many situations where boys may get teased due to picking the color pink, or playing dress up in a dramatic play area during free time. This story shows other children how its okay for others to dress in whatever they like and that we should not make fun, or judge others due to what they may chose to wear.
Luna is a young adult novel about a young girl named Regan, a sixteen-year-old girl and her brother Liam, who is transgendered and reveals his sexual identity only at night when he can turn himself into Luna. Dealing with family issues, school and boys, Regan keeps Liam’s secret from everyone, and as Liam becomes ready to share his identity with the people around them, Regan worries about how accepting everyone will be.
This book raises different themes that fall within the topic of LGBTQ. Several topics found within the text are gender roles, equality, relationships with family and friends, and identity. It addresses the ‘T’ of LGBTQ, transgendered, which is something that isn’t often seen in literature.
Within the classroom, this text is appealing because it not only shows the struggles of Luna, but also Regan, her sister. It is a platform for adolescent students to engage with questions that appear in the world around them, especially today where equality and LGBTQ rights are constantly being discussed in politics, popular culture and other aspects of society that students come in contact with. Students can use this text to examine topics dealing with sexual identity and equality. I think it is important to teach books that have main characters who identify as LGBTQ, but not to focus on this fact as something that makes the character different from other characters. For that reason, this book could be taught within a unit that focuses on family struggles, identity, coming of age, or many other topics in which the characters won’t be identified merely on their sexual orientation, but also on the different ways that the characters relate to all adolescents.
King & King is a children’s picture book that tells the classic tale of a prince looking for love. The prince’s mother, the Queen, is tired of ruling the country so she insists that her son get married and take over the kingdom. She brings in many princesses for him, but the prince isn’t interested in any of them. It isn’t until he meets one of the princess’s brothers, another prince, that he falls and love. They get married and live happily ever after, and the Queen gets to relax and retire from the crown.
This book falls within the LGBTQ topic because it tells the story of a young prince who falls in love and marries another prince. Traditionally, stories that have this fairy tale theme tend to have princes marrying princesses, but this text takes that traditional storyline and adapts it to a relationship that is typical in today’s society.
This text ends with the two princes kissing, and has been banned for that reason many times. In a classroom, this text would be good to pair with other fairy tales because it allows students to see different types of relationships. For older students, they can examine the text, the pictures, the text’s message, and compare it to other fairy tales. It is important to note that while the Queen at first thought her son would marry a princess, she isn’t impressed with any of the princesses, and is happy for her son at the end of the text. This shows her acceptance and happiness for her son as a mother.
Golden Boy tells the story of Max, a boy who seems to have it all, but who is grappling with trying to understand himself and who he is while dealing with pressure from his family to be ‘perfect’. His mom seems to be hiding something from him, and it doesn’t help that his father is running for Parliament, meaning that his family is in the media’s eye. It turns out that Max and his family have a secret; Max is intersex. As things go ary, Max has to deal with family, friends, being a teenager, falling in love, and figuring out who he is.
This book falls within the scope of LGBTQ because it deals with issues of sexual identity and acceptance. It deals with a young boy trying to discover his gender identity and the struggles he faces along the way.
In the classroom, this is a good text to explore the theme of coming of age with adolescents. The character and the pressures and struggles he faces from his friends and family are ones that most teenagers can relate to, whether they are intersex or not. A big question of the text is identity, and not just sexual or gender identity. This is a question that everyone struggles with, and this text would be a good way to introduce that question to a class.
This children’s picture book details the adventures of a young fairy by the name of Julep. Fairies have a certain set of physical characteristics, and fulfill particular roles within their community, while goblins have a different set of physical characteristics and fulfill separate roles. Julep lives with a forest tribe with her family and friends, but insists on being raised as a goblin instead of a fairy. Julep struggles to impart to her tribe that she is a goblin at heart, and simply does not identify with the body and role she has been born into. Eventually, they learn to accept her differences and rally in support of the physical transition Julep must undergo in order to transform from a fairy to a goblin for good.
Author Brett Axel uses the descriptors “goblin” and “fairy” in lieu of male and female throughout this text, speaking to his own views on the significance of identifying with a particular gender. In fact, Axel avoids the use of gendered pronouns entirely. This book is considered relevant to the topic of LGBTQ because of its treatment of gender identity and transgender themes. It deals with a main character who is born into a body and societal role that she does not feel comfortable with “at heart.” It also uses Julep’s journey from a fairy-bodied to a goblin-bodied character as a metaphor for transgender experience.
This text is a great access point for students in an elementary classroom who are learning about acceptance, difference, and identity in terms of gender norms. Although the deep-rooted theme of transgender experience may not be one that students will readily relate to, they can make meaning of the physical and emotional struggles that the main character expresses. The book could also lead to discussion with older learners about gender issues without being threatening or overly controversial. Students could use the text to examine allegory and metaphor as well, and how these devices contribute to the purpose and meaning of the text as a whole.
The Different Dragon is a metafictional children’s bedtime story, narrated by its own protagonist, Noah. Noah imagines an adventurous tale about magic, dragons, and one of his two mom’s, “Go-Ma.” The dragon in this story confides in Noah that he does not want to be fierce any longer, and Noah explains to him that there are many different ways to be a dragon. In the end, the dragon realizes that that he can be whoever he wants and he will still be accepted.
Author Jennifer Bryan claims the the same-sex family dynamic that Noah is notably a part of is incidental to the rest of the story. However, it is arguable that the lack of attention paid to this mention is a message in and of itself. This text falls within the scope of LGBTQ literature not only because of the type of family Noah is from, but because of the struggles the dragon faces in navigating its identity. The book is both inclusive without being overbearing or controversial, and a celebration of difference in all its forms. Noah and the dragon also address issues of acceptance and expectations.
Intended for LGBTQ families, this book is a great tool for parents to use in educating their children about inclusion, differences in family dynamics, and self-acceptance. Similarly, it could act as a way of engaging young learners in discussion surrounding diversity of individual interests, families, and the notions of being accepted or belonging within a particular community (even if that community is solely cultivated within the classroom itself). With older students, this book might act as an example for how authors choose to incorporate LGBTQ themes without being overly controversial. It could also raise questions about the value of ones identity, how physical, as well as internal characteristics might influence this, and what impact independent decision-making has on these perceptions.
Main character of this young adult novel, Rafe, is a regular teenager who enjoys writing, skiing, and playing soccer. He encounters many of the same trials as any adolescent might while navigating his identity as a developing adult. However, Rafe is also an out-of-the-closet homosexual. He came out as an 8th grader and has since been the poster boy for why “it’s ok to be gay”, even agreeing to speak at other high schools, preaching tolerance and the negative effects of bullying. Rafe eventually gets fed up with how much his gayness defines him and transfers to an all boys boarding school where he conceals his sexual identity. There, a teacher inspires him to write his story, he falls in love with a friend named Ben, and learns that no matter what label he’s prescribed, he’ll never be just a “normal” boy.
As a result of its central theme of homosexual identity and treatment across contexts, this novel fits seamlessly into an LGBTQ discussion or focus of any kind. The novel is refreshing in that it depicts a gay character who is supported and accepted by his family and community, yet still struggles with his identity. Rafe thinks he wants to be “normal” as he defines it by stripping himself of the label of gay. He comes to realize, however, that neglecting to embrace a part of himself is counter-productive, and even harmful to others. In the end, Rafe learns to celebrate his difference of his own accord. His journey of self-discovery imparts an important - that an individual is an individual, not their sexual preference.
This book could easily be used as a supplementary text for a unit on identity or coming of age or as a book of choice for literature circles in middle school and high school classrooms. Learners could question the value and effect of labels, and not just those that relate to sexuality but others like “jock” and “nerd” that are introduced in the text. They would easily relate to Rafe’s hesitancy to let people’s perceptions of him define him as a person. Furthermore, they would benefit from exploring underlying themes of friendship, love, and overall difference that permeate the text’s more blatant content. There is something in this novel that all young learners can relate to, which makes it an appropriate and purposeful work in 6-12 classrooms.
References:
Blackburn, M.V. (2002). Disrupting the (hetero)normative: Exploring literacy performances and identity work with queer youth. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46(4), 312-324
Garcia, A. (2013). Critical foundations in young adult literature. Sense Publishers
Vetter,A.M. (2010). “Cause I’m a G”: Identity work of a lesbian teen in language arts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(2), 98-108
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