This year, California has passed over nine pro-LGBTQ pieces of legislation that mandate a more accepting atmosphere across all public schools in the state. The change had a ripple effect in the educational system, such as creating more non-gender restrooms and allowing for pronoun changes within all districts. However, not everyone is satisfied with these changes, but it makes space for people to consider queer people as real people with real rights. While some cities and schools were ahead — among them CHS — lots of progress still needs to be made to secure these rights.
There have been a plethora of changes in our community surrounding queer rights, and with these changes it became essential to create a comfortable space for all. However, there were still problems in the community with acceptance – legalization did not mean equality. In schools like Claremont High, teachers have been specifically trained to make these spaces comfortable for students. In these trainings, teachers are taught to develop empathy for students. For some, it opened their eyes to the broad spectrum of sexuality and gender. During the pandemic, Zoom classes gave students an opportunity to share their preferred names and pronouns by allowing for name tags on students’ screens.
Elizabeth Bodnar, who teaches IB Psychology and AP Government described how teachers are supposed to approach sensitive social issues like this.
“It has been communicated to us specifically in faculty meetings that this is how we ought to behave towards students,” Bodnar said.
However, even with these changes and additional training being emphasized after COVID, not all faculty members adjusted properly. Junior Oliver Kolb shared a few experiences he has had on campus related to the matter.
“A huge thing I’ve noticed with my trans peers is they don’t have a lot of space to talk about things, especially if they don’t have any other trans friends,” Kolb said. “I’ve had a lot of substitute teachers that have made jokes about pronouns and preferred names. One time I had a teacher ask me: “are you one of those ‘they/them-ers’?”
Even though most teachers have adjusted to the changing times and learned how to properly address students, there is still a heavy stigma around having or using preferred names and pronouns – and being comfortable enough to share this with teachers is no easy task. Because of this, students like Kolb would like to see more resources on campus for Queer teens.
David Chamberlain, who teaches IB and AP English and IB TOK shared what they personally do in their classrooms to make an inclusive environment for students of all kinds.
“I make it known that my classroom is a safe space, and when the curriculum or the literature lends itself, we speak freely about these topics,” Chamberlain said. “But there’s still a lot more to be done. We need to keep this on the forefront of our minds and continue with these training sessions.”
Although plenty of teachers are making a conscious effort to support students and make their classrooms an inviting space for students to share who they truly are, these training sessions are not a “one and done.” As the community and the world continue to change and evolve, it is important that they remain ongoing.