Keywords:
school climate, normalization, curriculum, intentionality, intersectionality, racism, racialized, violence, support
school climate, normalization, curriculum, intentionality, intersectionality, racism, racialized, violence, support
Transcript:
Tara: So your daughter is going to go into another school, a high school next year.
Victoria: Yes. Oh my God.
Tara: What would that school need to do to support you and your daughter right now? Uh, if that school, if you could talk to that principal and say what you wanted to say about what you want that school to do to support you and your daughter, what would you say?
Victoria: Yeah I think it goes back to the other question that I answered, similar to what I, how I would like to see the school now.
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: I think to really create a space where LGBTQ people and families are normalized.
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: And so that means that it’s talked about--
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: it’s not that thing that we don’t talk about. Ironically, that’s what I’m doing in that space for her, right?
Tara: Right.
Victoria: So yeah, it’s uh, it’s part of the curriculum, it's part of the fabric of, of the school, just like the straight families are. You know what I mean? And so, yeah I think, I think there has to be some intentionality around it, and I struggle with that. So here I am saying the school needs to be more out there, and here I am trying to be conscious and cognizant of how she feels, and not feeling different. And the other piece that I mentioned, that I don’t want to forget about-
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: And I thought about it too, I think another piece is that fact also that she is the only student of colour in her class. And so, I think that creates, you know if you want to talk about sort of the intersectionality. So for her, how many ways, you know, maybe there’s some of “how many ways do I not have to stand out here right now, when I am just trying to go to school and not have to deal with any of these other things?" And I know there’s a subtext around, so when I had gone to school about the racial incident, you know, she obviously knows that she’s a racialized body.
Tara: Right.
Victoria: She feels very good about that. But here she is in this place where female racialized body was actually you know, I think violently exposed in terms of experience in the school. And so, here she is, the only person in that space that is identifying in that way, and you know, how difficult is that, right? For her when other kids are laughing.
Tara: So your daughter is going to go into another school, a high school next year.
Victoria: Yes. Oh my God.
Tara: What would that school need to do to support you and your daughter right now? Uh, if that school, if you could talk to that principal and say what you wanted to say about what you want that school to do to support you and your daughter, what would you say?
Victoria: Yeah I think it goes back to the other question that I answered, similar to what I, how I would like to see the school now.
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: I think to really create a space where LGBTQ people and families are normalized.
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: And so that means that it’s talked about--
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: it’s not that thing that we don’t talk about. Ironically, that’s what I’m doing in that space for her, right?
Tara: Right.
Victoria: So yeah, it’s uh, it’s part of the curriculum, it's part of the fabric of, of the school, just like the straight families are. You know what I mean? And so, yeah I think, I think there has to be some intentionality around it, and I struggle with that. So here I am saying the school needs to be more out there, and here I am trying to be conscious and cognizant of how she feels, and not feeling different. And the other piece that I mentioned, that I don’t want to forget about-
Tara: Yeah.
Victoria: And I thought about it too, I think another piece is that fact also that she is the only student of colour in her class. And so, I think that creates, you know if you want to talk about sort of the intersectionality. So for her, how many ways, you know, maybe there’s some of “how many ways do I not have to stand out here right now, when I am just trying to go to school and not have to deal with any of these other things?" And I know there’s a subtext around, so when I had gone to school about the racial incident, you know, she obviously knows that she’s a racialized body.
Tara: Right.
Victoria: She feels very good about that. But here she is in this place where female racialized body was actually you know, I think violently exposed in terms of experience in the school. And so, here she is, the only person in that space that is identifying in that way, and you know, how difficult is that, right? For her when other kids are laughing.