Where Have All the Queer Students Gone?
Heteronormativity & Homophobia in the Public School System
Sydney Seifert
McNair Fall 2003
Hidden behind the concrete walls of public schools all over the nation, tucked away in crowded classrooms, is a serious dilemma that lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning youth face each day. They face verbal harassment, blatant and covert homophobia and some even are physically abused because of their sexual preference. The lack of representation and recognition for GLBTQ students is highly visible throughout the public school system, in its policies, practices, and overall environment.
In this paper the word queer will to refer to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth who will be discussed throughout. Although the word historically has a negative connotation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people, by using this word in a different context I hope to further the re-appropriation of the term from its historical background and place in a more positive light to be used as an umbrella term to identify all people who are not heterosexual. It is a term that has been re-claimed by the lgbtq community to be used as an empowering declaration of freedom from its former wounding meaning.
Queer students are denied equal rights to an education and healthy development into adulthood because the education system in the United States is failing to ensure their safety. American society’s culture is based on heternormativity—that is, a culture where the norm is heterosexuality. The idea that a woman is supposed to be attracted to a man and visa versa is so ingrained into our everyday life that same-sex attraction is not recognized by the public or acknowledged by social institutions. As a result, heterosexism--“the false assumption that everyone is or should be heterosexual because it is assumed to be the only acceptable and valid life option”--and heterosexual privileges are the norm. The assumptions that are made through a heterosexual society are harmful for queer people in general because it has led “to the creation of societal institutions that bestow benefits on heterosexuals that are denied to GLBTQ people.” Examples of this harm is the lack of positive role models in the media, laws that prohibit gay marriages, the adoption of children, and serving openly in the military. Friend (1993) explains,
Homophobia and heterosexism also impact on students who are not lesbian, gay, or bisexual…the roots of heterosexism are in sexism…Boys who are “too sensitive” and girls who are too “independent” not only violate traditional gender-role expectations, but are also negatively stigmatized as homosexual…Homophobia also functions to put limits on same sex intimacy and bonding that may not be sexual.
It is not only queer students who are affected by America ’s heteronormative culture; straight students’ education is limited as well.