Speaking the Unspeakable

LGBT is definitely taboo to talk about not only in schools but in society in general. It's definitely the elephant in the room that nobody knows how to address. I think that most everyone would like to turn a blind eye and think "it's 2014, gays are allowed to get married, we don't have a problem anymore". This would be an ideal, but unfortunately it's far from the truth. People fear what they can't understand. School age children are highly impressionable. Most children wouldn't care what the color of your skin was or who you chose to love, they would sit down and eat with you anyways, unless they've been told otherwise. I think it is so important to educate children about the LGBT community. If children are given all of the facts, I believe they are more likely to be accepting and less likely to have prejudice. Everyone is thrown into categories based on their differences; boy or girl, black or white, rich or poor, fat or skinny, tall or short, gay or straight, magic or mudblood (yer a wizard Harry). These differences are apart of who we are, yes, but they are not all that we are. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." The content of their character. Imagine that? 

I took an anthropology of childhood class last year and in it we discussed issues of gender. In class we watched this movie called "Tomboy". It is a French film about a little girl named Laure who decides to identify herself as a male named Mikael after her family moves to a different town. Mikael has to overcome many different hardships involving his family and peers on his path of finding out who he is. This film is about an hour and a half long so if anyone has the time to check it out on your day off from classes tomorrow, I highly recommend it.

Tomboy (2011)