Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

In thinking about how I would handle a response to complaints about a gay, lesbian, or transgender working with children, I would respond that I have my own personal beliefs (strong ones at that) about these issues.  However, there is a line to be drawn for my professional life.  Character is above all in my mind when I think about my students and my own child.  I work in a public school, and just as I am not to share my faith (i.e. talking about the Christian belief of Easter being about Jesus or Christmas about the birth of Jesus, or that Halloween can be perceived as evil by some) I think that views about sexual orientation would not be shared.  Now, as children are curious and ask questions about personal life, I could see someone stating that they are gay, and explaining what that means as the children question (in age appropriate terms).  However, just because a person has a certain sexual orientation does not mean that they are going to be teaching children in graphic terms about their choice in a mate.  Again, I have my own personal views about this, but as a professional I am more concerned about the type of environment and character of the individual.  I would also explain that the person is highly qualified with immense knowledge in the ECE field or they would not be at the center.

My husband sort of experienced similar bias, but not on a sexual orientation level, rather on a sexist level.  He has worked with children in some form or another since he was in high school.  The first year of our marriage (we have been married ten years, so it was not that long ago) he decided he wanted a career change.  He loved working with Pre-School aged children and had worked at a Parent’s Day Out program at his church.  Supervisors felt that he was a gifted individual.  He decided he wanted to teach Pre-School children full time, so he set out to find a job at a day care center.  Please keep in mind that we were living in a large metropolitan city at the time.  He was called in for an interview and was hired!  He was so excited.  When the families at the center learned that a male was going to be the lead teacher, they were shocked and worried about the level of care that the children would receive.  Some families even threatened to pull their children out of the center.  He wrote a letter giving his name and basically his resume, and even included references.  A few families contacted them.  He felt frustrated that he was encountering this bias.  He hung in, and in the end, the families were all pleased with his performance and new families were excited about having him as their child’s teacher.  They saw that he was not going to harm the children, but was enriching their lives.  I would have expected this from my little county, but not the big city.  When we moved back to my county, he applied at a daycare here and there was little bias exhibited.  I was really surprised at this.

I have never had any children say any degrading terms when talking to each other.  We do not allow children to label each other, so we do not tolerate this in my class.  My assistant related that her grandson wore a hat to school and another boy said, “That’s so gay!” He called and was wondering what this meant.  She told him that gay meant happy. He obviously had no idea what this meant, but knew that it was not a compliment. It seems that when children use these terms that it is something they have learned outside of school.  Perhaps a family member has used it derogatorily.  If these terms are addressed and dealt with, children will continue using them and the “cycle of socialization” (Harro, 2010, p. 46) will continue.  Children need to be challenged on negative terms and the use of microaggressions, not just on sexual identity, but anything that exhibits bias.

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.