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 gAEGprX01964; Thu, 14 Nov 2002 11:51:53 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 11:51:53 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <sdd38df8.012@langate.gsu.edu> 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: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2404] Re: % of lgbt in adult literacy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.0.2 Status: O Content-Length: 5319 Lines: 81 Rose Marie, Thank you so much for responding to the listserv with your views. I know that sometimes it can be a bit daunting to express a view that may appear to be different from others, but I am sure that your view represents many "silent" voices and I thank you for representing this group! I think (note: only a think) that I would answer you as follows: 1. I wish that we could all be one world, and maybe we will be one day-but we are not there yet! If we were one world, then we wouldn't have to be concerned about, for example whether there are materials available that would interest lgbt adult literacy students, because there would be a plethora of all kinds of materials available, and this would be a nonissue. Our language would be different, for example-either straight people wouldn't be announcing their orienation all the time by referring to husbands/wives, or gay people would be comfortable announcing their orientation by refering to their same sex partners without it being an issue. 2. Although, we don't ask people about their religion, we do have our ways of finding out about it, or making sure that we are as inclusive as possible. For example, many people don't assume that all of their learners celebrate Christmas. Or they wait to find out what holiday (if any) is observed in winter. Decorations of classes, materials that are brought in, conversations that are held are often mindful of differences whether the differences are religion, ethnicity or gender. Orientation issues are not usually taken into consideration. However, our language and our daily ways of being can feel very exclusionary to people are not straight. For example, some teachers/tutors encourage their students to write Language Experience Stories. Often students are encouraged to write about their loved ones, their social life, etc. What is a student supposed to do if her life involves someone of the same sex? If she writes about her partner, that they had a fight and she is scared that she is going to leave her, how will the teacher react? It is not as if she is purposely coming out. She is only doing what a straight student can do without even thinking about it. In reality the straight student is announcing her orientation when writing the same story about her male lover, but we don't think twice about that. 3. Do we really care what the percentages are? I don't know. And as others have pointed out, it is very tricky to figure out. But I guess one reason to find out may be that what if, (and this is a what if) the percentages are pretty high in a certain classroom. Wouldn't this be as important as knowing that the Muslim percentage is high in a certain classroom, or that there are more women in a certain classroom, etc. Daphne >>> READER@wcoil.com 11/13/02 01:28PM >>> Daphne; What are you folks, the census bureau? I don't think it is at all important, unless there is some specific reason or goal in mind. If it is to make folks more comfortable, then why don't we find out how many Jews, Catholics, Muslims etc are in class to follow that line. Do you suppose we will ever be one world, doing the best we can and sometimes minding our own business and not looking for divisions? Rose Marie -----Original Message----- From: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 9:42 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2386] Re: % of lgbt in adult literacy 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 Daphne Greenberg Associate Director Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Georgia State University University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg@gsu.edu >>> sylvan@cccchs.org 11/12/02 18:57 PM >>> At 02:25 PM 11/11/2002 -0500, Deborah Schwartz wrote: >as I mentioned previously, it's almost impossible to determine >how many people in any given population identify as gay. There's such >repercussions to identifying >as gay in most contexts that the danger factor has to be correlated >somehow when we collect >numbers. > >This leaves me with a question and two thoughts: >I wonder has any one ever been involved with a study that in some way >measures how many >lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people are served in a given >program or class room? This would be difficult to determine on many fronts. First, you have to have some sort of working definition of what it means to be gay. In addition, the person has to self-identify as gay. The question of safety/confidentiality has to be addressed. And then, as you go on to mention, comes the question of why we need to know this. To justify including lgbt material in the classroom? To better serve our students by including material relevant to their lives? -------------------------------------------------------------- Sylvan Rainwater . sylvan@cccchs.org Clackamas County Children's Commission Oregon City, OR USA Daphne Greenberg Associate Director Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Georgia State University University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg@gsu.edu
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