Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
legitimized, “Afterwards [other faculty] came up to him and were flabbergasted. They
saidtohim,'I'msorrybutthisisabsolutelyunacceptableanditwillneverbebroughtup
in my class.' I mean totally would not even hear of the fact that [homosexuality] should
ever be something that is condoned.” Sara (FR) was shocked that some faculty, “would
come out and say 'I will not support this kid.'” Actions such as these minimize sexual
identity as a single student's deviance rather than an issue that has important relevance
for the entire institution. Sara's (FR) story revealed how important it is for gay-friendly
faculty to encourage rather than silence discussion about homosexuality since silence
favors, in this case, intolerant attitudes and ignorance. Jason's story at Rockport (intro-
duced earlier in this section) further helps to illustrate this point.
Jason reflected upon coming out in such a conservative place as Rock-port, “It was
tricky. I had some scuffles in past years with kids and like, there were some suspen-
sions and stuff…. I'm pretty sure that people do talk about me behind my back and say
things.” But he explained, “It doesn't really matter because they know that I will fight
back,andIhavegottenkidssuspendedandI'vegottenthemintrouble,andmaybethat's
a lesson that gay people are not powerless.” When Jason first realized what his sexual
orientation was he sought the safe space of a Gay Student Alliance that met in a nearby
city:
It was just like something that struck me one day—like all the pieces of the
puzzlefittogether,like“that'swhy—O.K.”Sothenthereis,“wheredoIgofrom
here?” Yea, it was like a relief. And, I mean, there was no-one here [Rockport]
I could really talk to, so there is a Gay Student Alliance in [a nearby town] that
meets on Friday nights.
JasonexplainedthatatRockportandthelargercommunity,thereisaneedfora“total
overhaulofthevaluesystem,”“Thereishomophobiaandthereissexismandthereisra-
cism but there's not a whole lot you can do without the whole area changing…. I mean,
grantedI'minschoolmorethanI'mathome,soschoolcouldhaveaverybigeffect.”So
he attempted to claim physical institutional space that would also represent a symbol-
ically safe space to discuss sexual orientation at Rockport. He initiated a Gay Students
Alliance on campus.
However,Jason'sinitiativewasultimatelydeniedbytheschoolfrombecominganex-
tracurricular club. Mike (AD) explained how faculty contributed to an environment not
fully supportive of homosexuality by controlling the use of school space:
That one still really bothers me because he came out as a junior, was very well
liked, very popular…. Essentially this young man wanted to start a club. He was
the perfect kid to do it…[So he gets up in front of the student body] and says,
