Gender JUST ( Justice United for Societal Transformation ) held its first Safe and Affirming Education Community Forum at Lozano Library, 1805 S. Loomis, June 15. The event highlighted the issues facing LGBTQ/GNC ( lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and queer/gender non-conforming ) students in CPS. The group invited Ron Huberman, the openly gay chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools ( CPS ) , to attend.
Huberman addressed the packed room of students, educators, parents and activists at the beginning, saying how "excited" he was to be there because "many of these issues are ones I certainly care a great deal about. I'm gay. I came out in high school when I was 15 years old, and that was 20 years ago. We have a long way to go, but there's progress." He said that he was "looking forward to the proposals to improve the level of respect." Huberman also added that he could not "say yes or no to every proposal. This is an opening dialogue and the start of many meetings to see how we can make CPS work better for every student at CPS."
The forum proceeded as a set of demands proposed by a panel of 14 students, parents and educators of Gender JUST and allied organizations. Huberman was accompanied by Renae Ogletree, director of student development at CPS.
Esmeralda Roman of Gender JUST explained that the group was motivated by a "need for safe and affirming education" within the context of the different forms of injustice faced by students, including economic and racial issues. [ full disclosure: this reporter is a member of the group ] . Over the course of the evening, panelists presented statistics about LGBTQ student issues into their presentations: 85% of LGBTQ students report that teachers never or rarely interfere when they see students being harassed, and 44% are physically assaulted.
Each panelist submitted a demand for reform addressed to Huberman; the demands had been collectively formulated at Gender JUST meetings prior to the forum. Roman described herself as a "lesbian mom to a teenage son [ who was ] bullied for years" and her frustration when the usual solutions, like speaking to the principal, proved fruitless. She asked for a district-wide accountability officer to whom students and educators could report their grievances, and who would enforce non-discrimination policies and provide training resources. Lucky Mosqueda spoke about being marginalized at Roosevelt High School as a student with a disability and an androgynous lesbian. She said she struggled to find intellectual and social support but was marginalized both at home and school. She asked for the creation of a curriculum that was not heterosexist or enablist.
Students not feeling safe in schools was a recurring theme, as was the need to add gender identity and gender expression to CPS's non-discrimination policy. Ahkia Daniels described a police officer tell a fellow female student that " [ i ] f you want to dress like a man, I will treat you like a man." Richard Moore emphasized the need to go beyond "disciplining strategies that only deal with violence and harassment after the fact." He asked for "restorative justice strategies" to be put in place instead. Daniels and Moore asked Huberman to sign a directive encapsulating the principles of the forum. The room broke out into chants as attendees pressed him to sign.
Huberman responded that "any directive consists of lots of different pieces. I embrace the underlying nature of this directive [ but ] we have to use the protocol of CPS. The problems presented here are real and real solutions are needed."
Read the entire article online at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com .