No, this isn't a post about me pretending to be something I'm not. The story of my life in the closet is far too broad (i.e. novel) to put in one post, perhaps piece by piece over time, it will be easier to swallow. Ergh, bad choice of words right there...
Anywho, trolling Samesame I came across this story:
An interesting read about things very current in my life:
The current state of queer policy in schools
Regional schooling and homophobia
Putting on kick-ass productions with gay characters involved.
Recently, Mendooran Central has decided that we are going to stage a production of "Two weeks with the Queen" in which one of the sub-plots involves a gay couple, one man suffering AIDS and the other watching him die. The storyline is both beautiful and topical. It calls upon the audience to appreciate a gay coupling as a normal and respectable thing. One man deeply in love with another. They are made to examine homophobia and social abandonment, the stigma of the disease and the trauma of loss. Very relatable, yes?
When it came to casting, the other teachers involved and I asked ourselves, would our kids be up to this role? On paper, it was powerful and moving, but in reality it would be very difficult for a teenage boy to play.
Our little community has three gay people in it, as far as I know. Myself, and a couple living out on a property, and by all accounts they are a very happy, stable couple. With such a small demographic, its no surprise that most of the kids at my school had never met an actual gay person before meeting me. Again, it is not surprising that when approached, the kids we thought would be up to it politely refused. Yet, to his credit, one student had the bravery to accept one of the roles and kudos to him, he will deserve every accolade that will come his way.
We had one gay down, now we needed another. Sadly, we couldn't get another. So we adapted the play, which is something mentioned in the article. We dropped the sick partner (he was only in two scenes after all), but we're still exploring that storyline to it's full extent, just with exposition (in the form of phone calls, writing letters) by the others characters that would have been involved. Non confrontational, but just as powerful. Leeton High dropped the Kurt character due to student disinterest in the role, and that's fine in my opinion. It is a big ask for a teenage boy to risk ridicule or questions about his own sexuality by playing a gay character. Why I ask? What is so bad?
As adults, we, well most of us, know that there is nothing wrong with being gay, lesbian, transgendered etc. etc. Teenagers however, they are full of stress and hormones and pressure and angst, they are generally so desperate to conform that the thought of being different utterly terrifies them.
The article discusses the lack of policy and structure for GLBTIQ students in rural schools, and that Leeton High doesn't have one. I can safely say that neither do we at Mendooran. Does this mean that we aren't supporting our kids any less? I don't think so. I'd like to think that by being a positive role model to any students "asking those questions" that they could come to me and I could either have a chat or refer them to where they could find more information. I don't know if any of our kids are gay or questioning, I have those I suspect of course, interestingly this boy was not one of them. Maybe there are kids out in the country for whom sexuality isn't an issue, I'm excited by that.
Now, what was the point of this post? Hmmm, damn you tangent Gods... Oh yes! Give the article a browse, it is very interesting. Being out in the country (pun intended) for 4 years now has afforded me a decent perspective on the state of education and queer issues out here, perhaps I am losing perspective on what is happening back in the Metro? More research is needed!
End Rant =)
Our little community has three gay people in it, as far as I know. Myself, and a couple living out on a property, and by all accounts they are a very happy, stable couple. With such a small demographic, its no surprise that most of the kids at my school had never met an actual gay person before meeting me. Again, it is not surprising that when approached, the kids we thought would be up to it politely refused. Yet, to his credit, one student had the bravery to accept one of the roles and kudos to him, he will deserve every accolade that will come his way.
We had one gay down, now we needed another. Sadly, we couldn't get another. So we adapted the play, which is something mentioned in the article. We dropped the sick partner (he was only in two scenes after all), but we're still exploring that storyline to it's full extent, just with exposition (in the form of phone calls, writing letters) by the others characters that would have been involved. Non confrontational, but just as powerful. Leeton High dropped the Kurt character due to student disinterest in the role, and that's fine in my opinion. It is a big ask for a teenage boy to risk ridicule or questions about his own sexuality by playing a gay character. Why I ask? What is so bad?
As adults, we, well most of us, know that there is nothing wrong with being gay, lesbian, transgendered etc. etc. Teenagers however, they are full of stress and hormones and pressure and angst, they are generally so desperate to conform that the thought of being different utterly terrifies them.
The article discusses the lack of policy and structure for GLBTIQ students in rural schools, and that Leeton High doesn't have one. I can safely say that neither do we at Mendooran. Does this mean that we aren't supporting our kids any less? I don't think so. I'd like to think that by being a positive role model to any students "asking those questions" that they could come to me and I could either have a chat or refer them to where they could find more information. I don't know if any of our kids are gay or questioning, I have those I suspect of course, interestingly this boy was not one of them. Maybe there are kids out in the country for whom sexuality isn't an issue, I'm excited by that.
Now, what was the point of this post? Hmmm, damn you tangent Gods... Oh yes! Give the article a browse, it is very interesting. Being out in the country (pun intended) for 4 years now has afforded me a decent perspective on the state of education and queer issues out here, perhaps I am losing perspective on what is happening back in the Metro? More research is needed!
End Rant =)
