What is sexual orientation discrimination in the classroom?

Resource for TAs

Sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination in the classroom may involve the professor making comments or actions or allow unchallenged comments or actions by students that single out or ignore lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or people. This kind of often inadvertent behavior may discourage LGBT students from feeling safe in the classroom or reaching their full academic potential.

Ideally, the college or university classroom is a place where information and knowledge are dispensed equitably. Unfortunately, both male and female instructors may behave in ways that demean LGBT people or exclude them from full participation in the classroom.

Much discriminatory behavior is not deliberate since most faculty consciously wish to treat all students fairly. Yet faculty have the power to control many events and interactions in their classrooms, and in doing so they transmit not only objective information but also attitudes and emotions. In this process, faculty who tacitly or overtly devalue LGBT students diminish students' confidence and enthusiasm for learning and create long-lasting impediments to academic, professional, and personal growth.

The damage is the same when the discrimination is based on race, gender, religion, age, or other physical or cultural characteristics. Thus, a useful test for determining whether behavior is homophobic or heterosexist is to image addressing similar kinds of behavior to members of a racial or other minority group. Conversely, professors have noted that an awareness of sexual orientation discrimination in the classroom has also made them more conscious of ways they may discriminate against other kinds of students as well.

Examples of discrimination in the classroom

Sexual orientation discrimination in the classroom takes two basic forms: discrimination against LGBT people in general terms and discrimination against individuals or a classroom group.

Examples of discrimination against LGBT people in general terms include the following:

• explicit use of derogatory terms or stereotypic generalizations;
  use of perceived "humorous" images or statements that demean or trivialize LGBT people;
• reinforcement of stereotypes through subtle, often unintentional means, such as by using
• classroom examples in which LGBT people are portrayed in certain occupations;
• refusal to allow LGBT issues or people to be discussed;
• continuous use of heterosexist terms such as making the assumption that all people are heterosexual.

Such assumptions evoke images in students' minds and effectively eliminate LGBT people as subjects of discourse even though the elimination may be unintentional, but it nonetheless renders LGBT people peripheral or invisible.

Examples of what might one do when experiencing anti-LGBT issues in the classroom:

• challenge anti-LGBT statements or comments made by others in the classroom;
• address the class as if LGBT students were there, whether or not they are out;
• treat LGBT students who continue to raise LGBT-related issues as contributors;
• speak out as an ally of LGBT people.

The fact that much discrimination against LGBT people in intangible or unconscious permits some well-meaning people to dismiss or ignore it. However, there is little doubt that this behavior not only puts LGBT students at a distinct educational disadvantage but also reinforces the feeling that the campus is unsafe. I may also have other lasting effects. In particular, such actions may discourage both classroom participation and the seeking of help outside of class, may cause LGBT students to avoid or drop classes or to change majors, and may undermine their scholarly and career aspirations.

Certainly it would be a mistake to believe that all or most sexual orientation discrimination is intentional. Faulty, like other people, reflect and transit unexamined cultural aspirations which may include the belief that LGBT people are less intellectually committed than others or that their work is less competent or important. These assumptions are not confined to male faculty; female faculty also may discriminate against LGBT people in the classroom.

How to eliminate discrimination in the classroom

Even small acts of discrimination are significant because they are part of a pervasive and cumulative pattern of societal inequality. Faculty may begin to challenge that pattern first by carefully examining their own feelings and preconceptions about sexual orientation and gender identity and then by becoming alert to overt and subtle interactions in the classroom. A number of specific techniques are available for helping to eliminate sexual orientation discrimination in the classroom. These include:

• when making general statements about LGBT people or issues (or any other subject), be sure they are accurately based on reliable information. Universal generalizations about any social group are likely, at best, to represent uncritical oversimplifications of selected norms;
• avoid "humor" or gratuitous remarks that demean or belittle LGBT people just as you would avoid remarks that demean or belittle people because of their race, gender, religion, or other physical characteristics.Respect the dignity of all students;
• when using illustrative examples, avoid using stereotypes;
• encourage your department to add a question concerning discriminatory behavior in the classroom for teaching evaluations; choose course material that does not ignore nor deprecate LGBT people. Be sure it's inclusive;
• become better informed about discrimination in the classroom;
• do not sexually harass anyone of the same or other sex.