by Rochelle Foulk

Created on: February 05, 2010   Last Updated: February 06, 2010

Teaching history on cultures, people, countries and/or events gives the new generation the ability to discern their own beliefs. It is an important subject to teach, underlying this is the necessity to help the student advance past the mistakes in society's past. Nall Hall Writer, is a teacher that runs a blog she writes, "When students are confused by something, 99% of the time it turns out they're not really confused by what the source says; they're just confused about why someone would act that way/think/say such a thing. Et voila - a teachable moment, as the saying goes."The chief reason to teach any subject, particularly Gay and Lesbian cultural history. 

On a college campus there seems to be less purposeful attacks on gays and lesbians. Those that are "open" and "out", just as there seem to be less racial acts of violence. It doesn't mean they don't exist, yesterday I saw a man (white) push and shove another man (black). The disease of superiority still exists and we must eradicate it with the only vaccine available; knowledge.

Gay and Lesbian history is taught on many campus's across the nation, and the world. Yale, also known as the Gay Ivy has courses in the cultural history of homosexuals. There are multiple sites that offer proof of famous people being gay.  Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vince, Joan of Arc, the list goes on. The subject matter is out there, though the question remains is why? Why is it important?

The purpose for understanding where the movement for gays and lesbians being "out of the closet" started with Stonewall. The origin of the Gay Pride Parade. June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was the site where gays and lesbians stood toe to toe with the New York Police Department. The police were known for raiding local bars that catered to the homosexual crowd, arresting, bribes, and harassment were of the normal evening routine. The men and women grew tired of this treatment and decided to stand against Police in an effort to announce they were no longer "second class citizens."

Similarly to the women's suffrage movement, the abolition of slavery and the intermixing of cultures since this country was founded people are stating they are not separate from the whole. The idea that people are separate based on ethnicity, creed, religion, color, gender or sexual orientation only continues to keep lines between the masses. Teaching the origins of this struggle for homosexuals allows a student the ability to question their judgments, effect change in the present climate and perhaps provide comfort to know that they are not alone.

People are the same. It is a simple statement. Often dressed up in pretty words, flowery sentiments and spiritual jargon. There is no difference between black and white, red or yellow, gay or straight; we have each experienced pain, betrayal, joy, sorrow, happiness, truth, and love. The preference, circumstances may not look the same, the feelings however, the feelings are exactly the same.

Feelings are the language of the soul.

Stuffing feelings, events, or burying the past under polite versions will only breed contempt and resentment. If you disagree, ask a Native American if they are represented in the history books used in today's schools. 

Benjamin Franklin:  "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

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http://www.gayheroes.com/main.htm

http://www.glbthistory.org/

http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2009_07/gay ivy_033.html

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