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Ongoing Conversations: students reflect on LGBTQ+ issues at SLUH

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series of articles addressing the difficulties of life at SLUH for members of the LGBTQ+ community in an attempt to raise awareness of their daily struggles and start a conversation on ways that we as individuals and as a school can change our habits to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals. The writer interviewed over a dozen alumni and is pulling from those interviews for each of the articles. This article focuses on the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in classrooms.

I would like to preface this article by saying that, as a reporter, it can sometimes prove difficult to navigate the inherent complexities of certain topics. Oftentimes, there are multiple viewpoints to consider, all with their own perspectives,  and which on occasion clash with each other. It’s the reporter’s job to take note of all accounts, accurately present each person’s narrative, and sometimes provide their own insight, such as in the case of commentaries or editorials. I expected this to be one of those topics, but to my surprise, in the vast majority of cases, the only barrier to progress seemed to be a lack of communication.

The students tended to feel that life as a gay student in the classroom can be frustrating. The only classes where they are represented are theology classes, and even then the gay community is only really talked about for a small fraction of the class time, most of which is devoted to talking about gay marriage and the need for gay chastity, a touchy subject for many gay Jr. Bills.

“They assumed that everyone in the classroom was straight, and that was very uncomfortable at times,” said Nicholad Dalaviras, ’20.  

“Looking now almost 11 years back, that's not a healthy or productive way to address stuff like that,” said Alex Seidel, ’10, who, in a later part of the interview, expressed concern about how little LGBTQ+ history is brought up in social studies classes at SLUH.

For Fitz Cain, ’20, there was a sense that he’d have to do all the advocating for himself. If teachers and the administration were unwilling to talk about gay issues, he’d have to take it upon himself to ensure he was educated on the subject.

“It was super frustrating being at SLUH and feeling like I had to create my own visibility. I wrote my AP U.S. paper on the AIDS crisis because I was like, ‘I'm not being taught this and I feel like I need to insert some sort of queer voice into this course.’”

Time and time again, the topic of the interviews circled back to adverse experiences in the theology classes of SLUH.

“I remember when it came up in sophomore theology, and feeling like all eyes are on me because they were. That was uncomfortable for me,” said Johno Jackson, ’20.

“We would have the ‘homosexuality lesson’ in theology and everyone would look at me. I wish that it could just be more seamlessly integrated,” said Cain. “Like, why are we pretending gay people don't exist, you know, or just queer people in general?”

This viewpoint proved fairly consistent: a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the classroom and hostility toward the representation of gay students when they were mentioned, some even providing specific stories of borderline homophobia in the classroom.

It’s very easy, then, to consider the teachers to be people who simply don’t want to discuss those issues, but that’s not what I found, both in the interviews I conducted and in the feedback I received on previous articles.

According to English teacher Jennifer Carroll, the reason there isn’t more representation in the English Department is more complex than some students realize.

“Finding a good fit can become tricky. When you get into issues of sexuality, trying to find books that talk about sexuality in a way that's not too explicit, too graphic, too offensive can certainly be tricky,” said Carroll. “Certainly we want books that are great books—to teach books that have a great message and books that will appeal to a lot of our students—and finding books that fit within the curriculum that have that appeal, that fit with the type of skills and ideas that we want to teach, that's tricky, and it takes time. There is so much more out there, and trying to take that wealth of experience and get it into four years of books that we can teach, it's hard.”

Carroll proposed other ways of approaching the issue, which will be addressed in a later article, but for the most part, the issue of diversifying the curriculum is a complex one given the tension between considering what to read and the limited time available.

“There is so much more out there, and trying to take that wealth of experience and get it into four years of books that we can teach, it's hard,” said Carroll. 

The theology Department wants to foster a sense of inclusivity in the classroom and offer a safe place for gay students to have open conversations about the Church’s teachings, but it can be difficult to walk the line of Church teaching.

“When I stand up in front of my theology class, I represent the Catholic Church and I represent the teachings of the Catholic Church,” said theology teacher Richard Wehner. “If I'm uncomfortable with that, then I need to look into another line of work. I am very comfortable, representing the teachings of the Catholic Church, and I think I have done that in my 47 years of teaching theology.”

“My commitment to this is always to make sure that we're actually doing what the Church says, and what the Church says first and foremost is that gay people are to be treated with respect, compassion, sensitivity,” said Theology Department head Jonathan Ott. “The last thing I want is for any of my students to walk away thinking that it's a sin to have an orientation towards a member of the same sex or (that) there's something wrong with who they are.”

Jim Linhares, who was once the head of the Theology Department, made clear that SLUH has come a long way since when he first began teaching. 

“I'm not saying the project's finished and I'm not saying there isn't more to do and there isn't more listening and more attention that the subject needs—obviously, it does,” said Linhares. “But boy, are we in a better place.”

Looking at things from a history standpoint, world history teacher Lindsey Ehret noted that the importance of incorporating multiple viewpoints in a history classroom is crucial.

“The story of humanity involves the people that are crushed, involves the people that haven't been given voices, like women,” said Ehret. “Women hadn't been given a voice in a very long time. And we have to listen to those voices if we want a sense of understanding of the past. If we only have one version of it, we don't have the bigger picture.”

For science teacher Mary Russo, the decision to include education on LGBTQ+ issues in science, possibly through examples like the many ways science can be misused through experimentation and corruption of data to oppress minorities is an easy one to make.

“I think it's almost overwhelming, the choices that are out there for educators to bring in pertinent, real-world, justice-based, inclusive examples that relate to their particular disciplines,” said Russo.

From the perspective of most teachers, it’s less an issue of whether LGBTQ+ students should be advocated for and more an issue of overcoming the difficulties that stand in the way, and it’s on that fact that I’d like to talk for a bit.

SLUH is best known for its rigorous education program, pushing students to find their limit so that they are exceptionally prepared for what the world will offer them beyond high school. But I’d like to propose a question to the SLUH community. Does SLUH’s curriculum completely prepare students for the world outside of high school? I would argue that it does not … yet.

A diverse education system is one of most important characteristics of a school because it allows students to reflect on what they’re learning in the classroom and develop their own understanding of the topic. If we only heard from one source for everything, there’d be no room for disagreement or discourse, something crucial to the furthering of knowledge. 

The administration and faculty at SLUH, from what I’ve been told in my interviews, care about that diverse education and want SLUH students to enter college with the ability to listen to and interpret a whole range of ideas and viewpoints. The problem seems to be that, like many smart students, everyone wants to try to do it on their own. 

Each person I talked with agreed that we need to do a better job of representing LGBTQ+ people. In a sense, what we’re doing right now with the gay community would be like if we only viewed the black community through the lens of slavery. Even though that is a very important topic to address, there is much more to the history, oppression, and culture of black people in the United States than just slavery.

For Wehner, we need to make an effort to cement that sense of brotherhood we often preach at SLUH.

“I've said this several times in different classes—(that) there's a big sign that says ‘Brotherhood’ (at SLUH),” said Wehner. “I said if we don't stand for that, if we don't protect each other, if we're not one big family, we need to rip down that sign of brotherhood.”

According the Jackson, the current approach of addressing the gay population only through that negative viewpoint of gay marriage in the Church makes coming out harder.

“Because the topic is not addressed all that often, a lot of students who are contemplating coming out don't know what the reaction will be,” said Jackson. “No one at SLUH wants to risk losing the sense of community they have once they've developed it. I know from my experience and the experience of others that you can feel that by letting people know that you're not straight, a piece of the community you cherish might fade away.”

So if the only obstacle standing in the way of progress is finding the right way to address the topic while keeping the curriculum rich, I have no doubt that the SLUH community can overcome the issue, but more communication needs to be had between the faculty and administration and these minority groups.

When I interviewed Ott and told him about the specific complaints some gay alumni had, his response was not bafflement or outrage. It was a desire to do better for having gained that knowledge. Therein lies the key. 

The best way to approach the issue at hand is not to separate off into different corners and try to figure things out ourselves. The path to change is laced with cooperation. If the faculty is finding trouble in representing a group of people in the school, they should be in direct contact with that group so that they can be sure they’re being good advocates. 

That’s not to say that Ongoing Conversations has not tried in the past to communicate their grievances. The story of Ongoing Conversations is often one fraught with struggles—with classmates, with teachers, with the administration. But if teachers truly want to create a SLUH that is inclusive of all walks of life, they have to be open to having these conversations. 

This is hard work, but it is work worth doing.

For the time being, the classroom environment at SLUH, with its lack of representation for the LGBTQ+ community, can at times prove to be one difficult to navigate for gay students, oftentimes affecting their mental health, a topic that will be addressed in the next issue. And while I hope to see change in the near future, right now this conversation is ongoing.

 

 

 


 

 

 

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