Safe Spaces: Making schools and Communities Welcome to LGBT Youth

In "Safe Spaces" by Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August, and Megan S. Kennedy, the issue addressed is acceptance and welcoming of LGBT Youth in today's classrooms. Ultimately the classroom should be a safe, comfortable learning environment for all students. Regardless of race, religion, or sexuality the classroom should a be a safe haven where students have complete freedom of expression, and acceptance of other students and their lifestyles. In today's society acceptance of ones sexuality has flooded the media, mostly with negative imagery.

 In society today people see LGBT people as outcasts, almost as if they are their own breed of human beings. Which I think is sick. People have a vendetta against change, and I personally believe that people are having a difficult time accepting the LGBT community because it a newly accepted topic in today's society. I feel that those who cannot accept the LGBT community are too arrogant to accept change and human progress.

A child's identity is crucial to healthy cognitive development and confidence. If a child does not feel comfortable with their identity then there is a problem. Modern pop culture, I feel sensors different "lifestyles" one example from the text is the cancelling of the episode of a children's show that depicts a lesbian family. Even though they stay away from words such as gay and lesbian, the producers were warned that parents may not want there children exposed to these "lifestyles" This personally deeply angers me. We live in a society that demands we accept everyone but we are not allowed to show homosexual relationships on children's shows? How are children going to learn to accept a concept if they are so heavily sheltered from it. 

I feel LGBT students would feel more comfortable in classrooms today if they were actually acknowledged. This can be connected back to SCWAAMP, because the LGBT community challenges that idea, you obliviously cannot be accepted as straight if that is not your sexuality. I feel in order to maximize potential of a student you should accept their identity as they want, and to inspire them to be proud of the person they are. Why limit a student just because they have a different sexual preference than you?