Exploring Literature with Gay and Lesbian Characters in the Elementary School - Scholarly Article

The article describes how two teachers attempted to bring GLBT literature into their elementary classroom. Neither of the teachers are insiders to the issue, but they each seem to have a strong desire to expose children to diverse literature. I found this scholarly article particularly interesting because it described the positive outcomes that can result from presenting elementary students with GLBT literature. Unfortunately, educators rend to downplay, or more often, completely ignore controversial issues as a way of protecting their students. In reality, avoiding these topics, such as GLBT, does more harm than good. The article also emphasized that it is important to learn the perspectives and attitudes children have about these issues and not to guide their thoughts or correct their misconceptions. When the students were allowed to express their ideas about the term “gay”, the teachers realized that students used the term gay as an insult to how they dress or making fun of a person just for being different; the term was never used as a reference to their sexuality.

Introducing these subjects into the classroom can be a tricky task. Simply handing students diverse literature and telling them to read it is not an effective way exposing students to these issues. Educators must integrate the topic within the current curriculum. The teachers in the article brought us GLBT within the family and relationships unit and seemed to give the students something to connect with. After the students read these books, they were surprisingly open about the issue and could even identify with many of the characters because they had friends and relatives who were gay or lesbian. They didn’t see homosexuality as wrong, just different. Students do have knowledge of homosexuality and it is important for them to have accurate information. The longer students do without actually learning about the topic, the longer the students’ think of this literature as inappropriate and their attitudes toward GLBT characters (and even people in real life) remain the same.