"In our hearts and in our laws, we must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation..."
~Former President Bill Clinton
The following occurred about three weeks ago with my First Block Spanish 1-8 class - my Onesies. The students were reviewing the verb ser and Spanish adjective words. The students used these grammatical elements to write a short paragraph, in Spanish, describing a friend. Once the students completed the writing aspect, they paired up, and shared their paragraph with a classmate. The last phase of the activity was for each partner to share with the class what the partner had read to him/her.
One of the students raised a question re: gender, especially in that Spanish is a gendered language. She asked, "What if the person is transgender? What word do I use?"
I thought the question was very perceptive and very intelligent. The other students shared her demeanor. My response: "If a person is born male, but determines that he wants to be identified as female, then you would use all words and adjectives in Spanish for describing a person who is female."
A little later, I thought about what I had said to the student, and began to second-guess myself. I decided to consult with a teacher, one of of the tech specialists, to be exact, who is also openly gay and the advisor for the school's GLSEN advocacy group. He confirmed I had told the student, and the class, for that matter, the correct thing.
Whew!
Although I was sure in my gut that I had said the correct thing initially, perhaps the next time I shouldn't be as quick to respond. Unlike race, gender identity is a less familiar topic for me.
Monday, October 26, 2009 at 9:54AM