Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id gADGYkX20189; Wed, 13 Nov 2002 11:34:46 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 11:34:46 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <7FAB90A2-F725-11D6-9D82-000393ABE4D2@litwomen.org> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "mev@litwomen.org" <mev@litwomen.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2394] Re: % of lgbt in adult literacy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.543) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed Status: O Content-Length: 9376 Lines: 170 On Tuesday, November 12, 2002, at 09:41 PM, Daphne Greenberg wrote: > Deborah and Sylvan raise an interesting question: > Is it important to know the percentage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or > transgender people in adult literacy classrooms? > Any thoughts??????? > Daphne > long - sorry I always have lots of thoughts when it comes to issues of lesbian and gay, bisexual and transgender and queer issues in education. I believe that talking about percentages is extremely misleading. In a U.S. context (indeed even around the world) where lgbtq people's are discriminated against, denied human rights (jobs, housing, education), subjected to religious-based denigration (all religions), abhorred, beaten, killed, what does it really matter what the percentages are? Will it mean that such discrimination will magically disappear? Probably not. Will it legitimate more money for research -- whatever research we feel is necessary? Maybe - it would probably depend on the purpose of that research. Would it change educational funding? Unlikely, given how much under siege funding is anyway. Actually, having the numbers to justify funding may just contribute to the sense of competition and horizontal hostility among disenfranchised groups positioning for those few "special interest / diversity" funds that do exist. As someone mentioned in an earlier post (Deborah?), what exactly do we count? Identity and self-identity, especially around issues of sexuality and attraction, is kind of a slippery slope. Sure, there are some people on either end of the continuum who are ONLY heterosexual or ONLY homosexual. Many (most?) individuals (whether they publicly admit it or not) experience a range of sexual/affectional/emotional happenings. One homosexual encounter does not a homosexual make! One heterosexual experience does not a heterosexual make, either! I know many individuals who over the course of a lifetime have considered themselves straight, then gay, then bisexual-- or any other combination of changing circumstances. These experiences are affected by attractions to individuals whom they meet over time and in a variety of contexts. At what point along this humanity continuum do they get "counted" when we try to establish percentages of the population as glbt? This area is filled with controversy as well - a recent example comes to mind. The current crisis of pedophilia in the Catholic church is being scapegoated onto gay priests. As many of us know, child molesters -- including those who go after children of the same sex -- are most often heterosexual in their own defined sexuality. Also, when this number of 10% was first "identified" -- easily some 30 years ago -- it mostly referred to gay men, then lesbians. With the more historically recent inclusion of bisexuals and transgendered and "queer" peoples, it seems more likely this number could well exceed 10%! And, even if we DO determine that 10% (more or less) of the population is glbtq folks, we know that this number involves and affects a much larger circle of people -- family members (siblings, (grand)parents, children, grandchildren, aunts uncles, cousins, etc), friends, colleagues and so on. If this large array of persons -- regardless of whether they have positively or negatively acknowledged their lgbtq acquaintance -- they too are then affected by the discriminations against lgbtq peoples. This broadens the 10% considerably -- so why is the 10% (or any other figure) important then? As we have seen, because women constitute 52% of the world's population does not mean that research monies or socially just activities follow! As we have seen with all social justice issues based on race, gender, age, language, culture, ability, size, sexual expression, the numbers of people affected does not mean or guarantee that their human rights will be honored, respected, promoted, observed or that research monies will come forth or educational curriculum will be changed! In this culture, everyone is treated and assumed to be heterosexual until proven otherwise. This assumed heterosexuality rightness (supposedly based in religious belief) has become the foundation for our legal, institutional, economic, cultural and psychological SOCIALLY gendered constructions and systems for family and relational practices. Adult learners/students are like the rest of us in society. They may or may not themselves be gay or lesbian. They may or may not be wrestling with their own issues of sexual identity. They may have colleagues who are gay or lesbian. They may have family members who are gay or lesbian and they may be wondering about their own feelings about it or wondering what kind of allies they can become. Maybe they are parents or grandparents trying to figure out how to be supportive of their own children / grandchildren. They may be wrestling with their emotions as a best friend or acquaintance has recently confided in them about their own sexuality. They may be new to this culture in which so much sexuality is talked about so publicly. They may be from a culture that has no qualms about gayness or no recognition of gayness. At this point, the research on the myriad of glbtq issues in adult basic literacy are practically non-existent. There are a few exceptions and I have compiled a short bibliography of the research I've found. I have started to outline some of the possible research questions we generally could ask and wonder what others you might add to this list. I will end by listing some of these questions. • What are the numbers? Do we have any way of knowing what percentage of adult learners are gay or lesbian? By population, we might assume 10% but given the types of oppression gay youth encounter, might the numbers be disproportionately higher? Do gays and lesbians and transgendered persons use literacy services? With what frequency? Does homophobia in learning centers keep sexual minorities from using those services? And given my earlier reflections, does really knowing these numbers actually get us anywhere useful? • How would we go about identifying these learners? And if we do, what ramifications will this have for their ability to receive state assistance or their ability to find and maintain work? What are the social service (work, health, parenting, education, housing, etc.) ramifications of asking these questions? • How do programs and/or teachers reinforce heterosexuality and deny homosexuality? What affect does this have on the lesbian and gay, bisexual and transgendered and queer and heterosexual learners? • We know that experiences of violence affect the ways in which women learn and accomplish their education— (I refer you to the important work that Jenny Horsman and Janet Isserlis are doing). What similar pressures and barriers might exist for lgbt persons? What are the effects of heterosexism on learning? Are there learning styles unique to sexual minorities? • I have been asking literacy workers about what women-centered literacy materials they have been using to bring up issues and topics and oppressions of importance to women. What literacy basic reading materials are available on topics of homosexuality and how have educators used them? • What pressures and issues are felt by lgbt literacy workers and volunteers? What pressures and experiences of heterosexism and homophobia do they experience? What happens for us in our classrooms and professional organizations when issues of homosexuality are raised? Where do we find support for our (in)visibility? How do we combat homophobia and heterosexism? • What curriculums can be written on lgbt issues? What are the ways such curriculum could handle the vast array of social and justice issues pertaining to issues of homosexuality in schooling and society? How would this curriculum intersect with the functional needs of literacy currently being stressed? What training would be needed among literacy workers to have these curriculums be used effectively? • Perhaps we could address this question from a different angle. What if we were all assumed to be (simply) sexual beings who at various points in our life might experience a range of sexual/affectional activities or expressions? What if the criteria for such relationships was NOT based on the gender (race, class, ability, size, adult age) of who you have sex or relationship with, but rather based on whether those relationships bring out the best in us as persons fostering respect, growth, support, companionship, learning, love -- humanity? How more meaningful and stronger would our families and relationships become? How might this broader question affect the ways in which our curriculums are constructed and our educational institutions handle the vast array of sexual issues before them? This is a short list, I’m sure there are many more questions that can be added. I encourage you to take up these issues. In general, what are the power, language, economic, social, educational, identity and other ramifications raised by having open and critical dialog on such questions? Mev WE LEARN Women Expanding: Literacy Education Action Resource Network www.litwomen.org/welearn.html Mev Miller, Ed.D., Coordinator welearn@litwomen.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 17 2003 - 14:45:49 EST