Open Letter 

Dear teacher, 

I’ve gone back and forth in my head if it was worth writing this letter to you, if I should share my pain with you or just let it go. The problem is, though, I can’t just let it go. What I experienced in your senior year religion class will stick with me forever. 

When I walked into your Peace and Justice and the Catholic Church class on the first day of senior year, I was looking forward to it. I was excited to apply what I’ve learned about Catholic teaching to modern day politics, especially with the 2016  presidential election coming up that November. Even though I knew I would disagree with several of the Catholic Church’s views on social issues, I was prepared to be challenged and to listen to opinions different from my own. But what I heard I was not prepared for. 

I was not prepared to for the queer community to be talked about like we are a different species exisiting within and polluting the society that “people like you and me,” as you referred to you and your students as, live in. I was not prepared to hear you place the blame on the queer community for singlehandedly secularizing a once Christian society, for instilling corrupted values into the minds of today’s youth. I was certainly not prepared to hear you liken gay people to psychopaths, as we are born with a diseased mind and have sinful urges we need to control in order to preserve the safety of others. And also for the words “fag” and “dyke” joined with a slight chuckle to exit your mouth so freely when quoting something another homophobe said, as if you were just waiting for someone else to say it so you can too. At this point, I guess I was prepared for when you said, “Look, guys this is hard for me too: I have some friends who are gay, and they really are wonderful people, but this is what the Bible says.” I don’t think the word “fag” appears anywhere in the Bible, but if anyone should know it would be you, being the religion teacher.

I am not just like you, sir. I am queer and I am proud of it, despite the harmful rhetoric you tried so hard to get into my head. In a way, what you said only makes me prouder, as I have proved to myself that me and my diseased mind and secularizing powers can be happy polluting society, as you called it. But I hope to the God you swear by that not one more queer student of yours has to endure the hateful speech you project, becauase one queer kid is already far too many. 

A Guide to Queerness in your School 

Whether you like it or not, your school will have queer students, most likely more than a handul of them. There will be some who are loud and proud, while there will be others who are deeply closeted and scared of their own existence. No matter the type of queer student(s) you encounter, it is your responsibility to make sure they are cared for, supported, and able to exist in an environment where they can thrive. 

First, it is absolutely essential to include LGBTQ+ history school curriculum. Queer history is an important part of history of the last century. Students should learn about the LGBT revolution of the 1970s, the Stonewall riots, the AIDS crisis, and the marriage equality bill of 2015. All of these events can be and should be included in any contemporary history class. Additionally, the queerness of historical figures should be discussed within the class, instead of concealing it, since their queerness most likely had a large effect on their life and work. 

Secondly, schools should be a place where students can feel safe, protected, and cared for. Therefore, an explicit LGBTQ+ support system should be in place in every school. This can be a GSA (gay-straight alliance), a support group among a counselor and students, or one on one consueling options for any queer student seeking guidance. As a student may not have access to any support outside of school, administrations should be explicit in conveying that these types of programs are available to the students. This safe queer space also extends to spaces such as bathrooms, as every school should have at least one gender neutral bathroom for transgender and gender nonconforming students. Additionally, schools should encourage inclusive language, and discourage derogatory language and slurs. For example, teachers and administrators should promote the use of introducing oneself with their preferred pronouns. 

Process Notes: 

I had a bit of trouble navigating the tone of my open letter, but I chose to go the bitter, hurt, but firm route in order to express how much my experience affected me and how this behavior is absolutely unacceptable. I felt as though the open letter was a good way to tell my own experience and the lecture a way to express how I would’ve liked my own high school experience to have been like.