A TA's Guide for Overcoming Homophobia in the Classroom by Alicia Abramson, University of California, Berkeley written circa 1986

One of your primary tasks as a Teaching Assistant will be to establish a classroom environment in which your students feel comfortable participating in the educational process. The effective teacher is the one who can motivate students to play an active role in class discussions, complete class assignments, consult the TA or professor when learning problems occur and generally inspire students to rise to the intellectual challenges posed by the course work. But TAs will be unable to complete these important tasks if they allow homophobia to damage the educational environment and risk offending and alienating lesbian and gay students.

Lesbians and Gays in the Classroom

If you think only a few students will be hurt by homophobic remarks and prejudice, think again. Researchers have repeatedly found that about 10% of the population is lesbian or gay. This is inclusive of all segments of society, which means that at any given educational institution, there will be a significant number of lesbian and gay undergraduates. At UC Berkeley, a campus noted for the diversity of its student body, the number of lesbian and gay students may even exceed this percentage.

Though lesbian and gay students constitute a significant group on campus, they nonetheless encounter prejudice and discrimination at school. A recent survey of 247 lesbian and gay students throughout the UC system suggests that homophobia and heterosexism are widespread among faculty, staff, and students. Of all respondents, 85% reported that they encountered anti-lesbian/gay prejudice--homophobic remarks and jokes--from fellow students, 50% from faculty and 55% from staff. But anti-lesbian/gay prejudice is by no means confined to casual remarks or thoughtless jokes. This prejudice has, according to the survey, seeped into the educational process itself: 26% of the respondents reported that required reading materials for their UC courses contained anti-lesbian/gay biases. One respondent found that, "Sexuality class textbooks group gays with pedophiles, transsexuals, and bestiality." Other comments on prejudice in course texts included the following: "Human sexuality class still has some books describing gays as having no long-term goals and always leading depressing lives. Ditto for some abnormal psych books;" "One University extension course grouped homosexuality along with 'crimes and diseases,' such as alcoholism, rape and prostitution."

Definitions: Heterosexism-- A belief in the superiority of heterosexuality; policies and practices which serve to elevate heterosexuality and subordinate homosexuality. Homophobia-- 1. Fear, dislike or hatred of lesbians and gay men. 2. Discrimination against lesbians or gay men.

The Facts About Homophobia at UC

Survey data reveals that anti-lesbian/gay prejudice is common in UC Berkeley classrooms. The Classroom Climate survey, completed in 1984 by the ASUC Academic Affairs Office at UC Berkeley, documented the fact that instructors at the University are failing to establish a non-discriminatory educational environment, and that they are consequently disrupting the learning process for lesbian and gay students. Eighty-two percent of the lesbian/gay respondents in this survey strongly agreed with the statement "Sometimes instructors make comments that reflect stereotyped ideas about lesbians/gays," and 69% strongly agreed with the statement "Sometimes I feel left out of class because of my sexual preference." The ASUC survey revealed that lesbian and gay students were the most uncomfortable in class--more so than even the ethnic minority, disabled, and female students surveyed.

"Some years ago teachers and writers recognized that not all students and readers were white; some were black and some were Asian, some were Chicano. More recently they recognized that not everyone was male; there were women sitting in classrooms and reading books. Now it needs to be recognized that not all students and readers are heterosexual; some are gay and some are lesbian." Joseph A Devito, from "Gayspeak: Gay Male and Lesbian Communication."

There are many different ways in which anti-lesbian/gay prejudice has manifested itself in classes. Some students surveyed reported that instructors made prejudiced or homophobic comments on their papers: "One professor thought I should have talked more about gays being...mentally ill." There were also reports of students being chastised by instructors for expressing a lesbian/gay perspective in class: "The TA called me a 'man-hater' and didn't want 'negative vibes' in the classroom." Anti-lesbian/gay assumptions and prejudices were encountered widely in faculty lectures. One survey respondent reported that "a lecture was given in which homosexuality was considered morally wrong," and another said that in a sociology class, the professor's sole comment about gays was that they "have no community. 'A street full of bars did not constitute a community." That was the extent of the discussion in a 10-week course."

Bias Undermines Education.

Yet lesbian and gay students are not the only ones who suffer from this bias; it also serves to limit the intellectual development of heterosexual students by denying them access to accurate information about lesbians and gays and their contributions to society. For instance, the history professor or TA who is unaware of or negligent about lesbian/gay history may--even inadvertently--slight important lesbian/gay issues, events and figures, leading students to graduate from college with the mistaken assumption that all historical figures are heterosexual. This is called the heterosexual assumption or bias. In this case, the teacher has failed in his or her educational mission, and is perpetuating ignorance instead of transmitting knowledge. Remember that as an educator, it is your responsibility to teach your subject knowledgeably, accurately, and in an unprejudiced manner--and this applies to homosexual topics as well as all others. So if you allow the heterosexual assumption or homophobia to pollute the educational environment in your classes, you're not just "politically incorrect," you're not doing your job as a teacher.

Further compounding the problem of homophobia in the classroom is the fact that lesbians and gays are, as a whole, not an easily identifiable group of people. Very often, heterosexuals erroneously believe they do not personally know any homosexual people. So while today, racist and sexist remarks and attitudes are not acceptable in the university community, homophobic remarks and attitudes are tolerated, largely because of the perceived absence of homosexuals at the university. This alleged absence, however, is only imaginary. Lesbians and gays are present and active in every facet of education, as educators, students, staff and as contributors to the academic disciplines.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Don't assume that everyone in the class room is heterosexual. Remember, at least 10% of the population is lesbian and gay. Avoid the heterosexual assumption.

2. Monitor your own use of critical or stereotypical terms to discuss lesbians or gays or homosexuality.

As a TA, you will quickly learn that students pick up the attitudes and values of those who they perceive to have authoritative knowledge about a subject. It is important that in your role as educator you do not pass stereotypical attitudes about any group of people.

As a TA you can play a role in reducing heterosexism and homophobia among students in your discussion sections. Ultimately, both heterosexuals and homosexuals benefit when you include lesbians and gays in the educational process. And what is more, you will be conducting your discussion sections according to UC policy, which states: "It is the intent and direction of the Board of Regents that the University's policy against legally impermissible, arbitrary, or unreasonable discriminatory practices shall be understood and applied so as to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As specified in that policy, all groups operating under The Regents, including administration, faculty, student governments, University-owned residence halls, and programs sponsored by the University, are governed by this policy of non-discrimination."

TAs Should Know...In the recent UC systemwide survey, 41% of lesbian and gay student respondents reported that they had at one time been a TA for UC. Not only will some of your students by lesbian or gay, but so will some of your co-workers! And... The ASUC Classroom Climate survey reported: Of students who did express a preference when it comes to either preference when it comes to either professors or TAs understanding the special problems of lesbian/gay students, TAs were preferred four times out of five. YOU can make a difference!

MYTHS and FACTS about lesbians and gay men:

MYTH: Gays and lesbians do not contribute to society. FACT: Gay men and lesbian women have made major contributions to all aspects of society: social services, education, politics, arts and humanities, and sciences.

MYTH: Lesbians and gays are mentally ill. FACT: Research done by the National Institute for Mental Health found no greater incidence of mental illness among lesbians and gays than among heterosexuals.

MYTH: All lesbians are masculine and all gay men are effeminate. FACT: While some lesbians may appear masculine, and some gay men effeminate, the reality is that lesbians and gay men are no more masculine or feminine than heterosexual members of the same sex.

MYTH: Homosexuals are predominantly white males. FACT: The homosexual community is very diverse, consisting of both males and females, blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Indians. Homosexuality has been found to exist in almost every culture worldwide.

Discuss stereotypes in textbooks with the students in your discussion sections.

Students should be encouraged to note when textbooks contain both biased and erroneous information. This contributes to the development of critical thinking skills, which are vital to the educational process. Point out these stereotypes to your fellow TAs and the supervising professor.

Don't rely on lesbian and gay students to initiate discussion on the topic of homosexuality.

Often students will not bring up the topic if they are unsure if it is safe to do so. Hopefully, following the other guidelines will help you to establish an atmosphere where students will feel comfortable initiating discussion on this topic. But don't hesitate to bring it up yourself first, for that my be all that other students need to contribute to the discussion.

Encourage students to do research on lesbian/gay topics.

If a student approaches you with a proposal to research some aspect of homosexuality that is relevant to the course, do not discourage the student from dong so. Until the past two decades, very little research had been done on lesbian and gay topics, so there are great opportunities for both you and your students to do groundbreaking work in this important area.

Some questions to keep in mind throughout the academic year to remind you of the task of countering homophobia and heterosexism in your discussion section are:

1. Did you observe heterosexism or homophobia in your classroom?

2. What role do students play in the problem situation?

3. What is your role?

4. Upon noting this situation, what, if anything, did you do?

5. Now that you have time to reflect, what do you think that you or someone else could do to change the possible heterosexism or homophobia that you observed?

Don't allow biased or stereotypical comments to go unchallenged in the classroom.

In many cases, not only lesbians and gay students will be offended by blatantly homophobic or anti-lesbian/gay remarks. Depending on how you address such remarks, these students may or may not feel free to express their own discomfort with such comments. If you encounter a biased remark, you might:

a. Ask other students in the section to respond to the comment.

b. Express your own discomfort with the comment and explain your position.

c. Encourage discussion about stereotypes in general and the ways that they can be harmful.

d. Supply the class with information sheets that help dispel inaccurate information about homosexuality. In any case, it is important to avoid angrily confronting or embarrassing students who make biased comments. Instead, motivate them to rethink their statements, through the use of the above suggestions.

Discourage offensive humor directed at lesbians and gays. Remember that just as you would not accept offensive humor about women or ethnic minorities, you should also not accept offensive humor about lesbians and gays. The suggestions in the last guideline should be helpful in countering offensive humor.

Again, be sure that in pointing out the student's error, you do not humiliate the student. However, students who persist in making offensive and prejudiced remarks may need special attention--which can usually be given with a minimum of embarrassment and maximum effectiveness in office hours. There is not easy way to correct errant students in general, and it is even more difficult in an area as sensitive as this one. But as a teacher, it is your role to intervene when confronted by error. If you are uncertain about how to proceed in the face of the homophobic incident, consult your colleagues, the supervising professor, or one of the resource organizations on campus.

Encourage the discussion of lesbian and gay topics in your section. Part of the mission of the university is to explore diversity and to present new and different ideas to students. Topics pertaining to homosexuality should be raised if relevant, even if they are not in the syllabus. In fact, discussion of lesbian and gay topics can add diversity and depth o the discussion. For many students it will be a worthwhile and enriching experience simply because the opportunity to safely discuss such topics has not arisen previously. Some areas where it would be most helpful to discuss homosexuality and the contributions of lesbians and gays are: literature, history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, public health, and mass communications. If the professor of the course has not included any readings about lesbians/gays/ homosexuality, but you feel it is relevant, point out this omission and see if it is possible to add readings to cover this neglected topic.