Bullying in School

North Carolina third grade teacher Omar Currie saw the familiar signs of bullying in his classroom. A group of kids singled out a boy and called him gay, a girl or a woman in all their references. The teacher intervened at first, but the cruelty continued with ongoing taunts that the boy was gay and that he was a girl.

The teacher wanted to have an honest conversation with the students about some of the issues that had come up in the repeated bullying. The child who was being harassed was “very, very upset,” and Currie wanted to turn the incident into a lesson.

Storybook Romance

The next day, the class listened to their teacher read a book called “King & King,” about a prince who searches for a companion to rule his kingdom with him. After meeting with many princesses and feeling no interest, the prince in the story meets another prince and falls in love. The story has a happy ending, with the two coming together in marriage with a kiss at the end. Using the book, Currie aimed to:

• Find a better way to talk about the subject rather than sending children to the principal for discipline.
• Focus on the moral that it is important to treat others well regardless of who they are.
• Discuss the feelings of some in the class who felt uncomfortable reading the book and seeing the illustrations.
• Show that early and honest intervention is the best solution to bullying in school.

One young man in the class reported that he had never seen two men kissing. The teacher agreed that learning about or seeing new things might sometimes be unsettling at first. Remembering his own youth, Currie, who identifies as gay, recalls, “Every single day I was called faggot. I was called that in front of teachers and no one ever stopped to address the problem.” He hopes that he can help prevent bullying.

Ban the Book?

At least three parents filed formal complaints about the reading of the book in the class. The school board scheduled a meeting to determine whether the book would be banned in the school. New rules now require teachers to inform parents of every book that they intend to read in class. The board determined to keep the book.

Some 200 members of the community attended the meeting, and there was strong support among the majority for the teacher and his honesty. He is very appreciative of the outpouring of support and love he received from the community.

Support for Other Stories

Calgary hosted the first Human RITES Conference, which takes a look at relations between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities and faith groups. Aiming to eradicate barriers between individuals in religious settings, the conference is organized by a transgender Canadian who has mixed memories of church experiences.

“Am I going to embrace who I am, or am I just going to embrace my faith? Instead, I embraced them both but it was a journey to embrace them both,” recalls the organizer of the conference, who grew up as a female in a Baptist home in southern Alabama. “Even if it was learning to sing Amazing Grace or going to church or Jesus loves me or reading a book, there was always some sort of concept that god is here. … That Jesus’ love is there.”

Immutable Characteristics

As a female youth who felt attraction toward women, conflict with faith and family was unavoidable. The conference organizers hope to build bridges between religious communities and LGBT individuals, who often feel judged and excluded when they bring their whole selves to church. Noting the harm done by religions that preach hate and hellfire for homosexuals and demand that LGBT individuals change what they are, one of the participants notes that gender identity is an “immutable characteristic. It’s something that’s just as natural as having blue eyes.”