Like the majority of schools in the country, Zoe Barnum High School has been grappling with an increase in homophobic language and behavior. In 1997, a young man here was attacked for his perceived sexuality. After this incident, several openly gay, lesbian and bisexual students, along with a few supportive straight students, formed Youth Educating Against Homophobia (Y.E.A.H.!).
Since its inception, Y.E.A.H.! has been involved with educating students and staff at Zoe. Over the past four years, the number of homophobia-related threats seems to have dropped. The use of homophobic language in general (such as using the term "That's gay" to mean something is bad) continues, but now is challenged by many of the teachers and staff at Zoe.
After experiencing the initial success of Y.E.A.H.!'s work, the students in the group wanted to continue their training workshops for the staff of our school and also expand their availability to other sites.
Y.E.A.H.!'s workshop evolved from a one-hour talk to a three-hour interactive training. The first session centered on a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered (GLBT) students coming out to their teachers and staff. Teachers were amazed at how many of their students self-identified as GLBT. The students told stories about their own experiences in school and how the school climate looked from their perspective. This was a courageous act on the part of the students. Many of them had not identified themselves as GLBT to their teachers, and some had even faced demeaning treatment from a non-supportive teacher. With a foundation of the students telling their own stories of harassment and mistreatment in the school, the group began to research more general information for future workshops. Now called Homophobia 101, this new workshop includes statistics describing the high rates of self-destructive behaviors that plague gay youth. It also added ideas that teachers could use to help educate their students about GLBT support and suggestions about how to confront homophobia in their classrooms.
Over the past four years, Y.E.A.H.! has also provided training to the local AmeriCorps cadre, workers at a street-youth advocacy group, a nearby university's teacher credential candidate cohort, several other schools and a teen theater troupe.
At local schools, a number of teachers have created safe havens and taken what they learned in Homophobia 101 and integrated it into their classroom.
The passage of the Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 added sexual orientation, perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and perceived gender identity to the list of categories for which California schools must protect their students from harassment and discrimination. Making that law real on a local level is the challenge of activists and school boards throughout the state. With the work of Y.E.A.H.! I am hopeful that schools will truly be places where everyone feels safe and everyone feels respected.
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