Discussing Inclusivity with Students at the Luanda International School

Pride and Less Prejudice presented virtually to Year 12 students at the Luanda International School’s Second Core Retreat on September 16, 2020. LIS is based in Angola and is committed to fostering compassionate, confident, and socially responsible individuals who thrive in the world. Our presentation about the work that Pride and Less Prejudice is doing to foster inclusive classrooms was supportive of the school’s service learning curriculum. Hear what they learned from our session!

The Importance of Representation in the Classroom by LIS Students

What LIS Students Learned from Pride and Less Prejudice

Bruna:

“Going into the session with the leaders of Pride and Less Prejudice, I was keen to learn more about how to be an even greater advocate and ally for the LGBTQIA+ community. My interest for civil and human rights of all people has always been a defining attribute of who I am and who I hope to become, but the work is never done and growth when it comes to social equality is never-ending. Thus, while I believe to have gone into the session with a great sense of importance for LGBTQIA+ lives and representation, Pride and Less Prejudice demonstrated how they are turning their hopes into real action and causing immense change. This shifted my thinking from looking at being an ally not just from the standpoint of reposting on Instagram, but becoming involved in real communal change.

In some respects, I believe it would be morally wrong for me, as a Black woman, to fight for my rights, without fighting as hard for the rights of every human being as well. The fact of the matter is, I have heterosexual privilege, so gleaming in my own privilege without addressing the constant violence faced by the LGBTQIA+ community, would in and of itself be an act of violence against my LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters.

An aspect of the session that resonated with me, was the organization’s focus on not just normalizing the community, but emphasizing the importance for children to grow up with the knowledge to, whenever suits them, be confident and prideful in loving who they love and having a love that is unapologetically LGBTQIA+. I commend Pride and Less Prejudice for taking on the role of starting the conversation on integrating education for all people, especially in a time where human rights are being questioned in all walks of life. It is vital to continue to foster means of education and growth to further incite change. I am so glad to have witnessed two incredibly strong women make their mark on the world and make it a bit of a better place with this grand educational effort.”

Fleur-Aimee:

“I believe that in order to change old-fashioned views that society has had for hundreds of years, the small, everyday things are always much more effective than the big ones - despite western laws that permit citizens to get married to whom they choose, problems such as homophobia, transphobia, etc, are evidently still a major problem today. The smaller actions such as providing children with books that are inclusive to everyone are so important, providing representation and normality for those who haven’t had it in the past. By educating children on these issues, Pride and Less Prejudice is helping to raise a whole generation of unprejudiced people who are open and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The first time I read a book with an LGBTQ+ character, I must have been around 10 or 11. I remember going up to my parents and asking about it. I was given a perfectly good explanation, but I do think that I should not have had to feel confused at age 10 when reading the word ‘lesbian’ or ‘transgender’. If my parents had not explained what the term had meant, if I had got my information from another source - who might not have been as inclusive - I’d have a very wrong idea of what was going on. 

Although my parents are very accepting, my extended family is not - there have been countless situations in which grandparents have said things that were so, so backwards, and instead of challenging their views, I was told just to ‘leave it’ and ‘they couldn’t change anyway.’

After meeting with Pride and Less Prejudice, I’m now sure that it was the wrong thing to do - people with these damaging views and opinions should be challenged, to have to feel like they have to struggle to explain their reasoning. By ostracizing their opinions, their beliefs then become less normal. And by providing children with this kind of material, we are providing their entire families with discussion and room for change - kids will go home and talk about this, to their parents, siblings, grandparents - and that is the kind of exposure needed.”

Karina:

“During this section I was hoping to learn more about the LGBT community and issues. I know a lot of people look down on this and many people suffer for it. A lot of people act like having different preferences is abnormal, when it isn’t. People are just really close minded, they aren’t open minded to change or what’s different. 

This group showed the importance of having literature growing up. I never really thought of literature as a way to teach others about the LGBT community. I only used to see media such as social media, the news and others as sources of teaching about topics like this.

I once read a webtoon about a boy who developed feelings for his friend of the same gender. This is what really opened up my mind to the possibility or fact that love is beautiful no matter how. Before I started reading this comic and getting more interest in this topic I didn’t have much of an open mind. I respected people’s decisions but I didn’t really think much about it or look more into it at all. This made me more open minded than I was before reading the webtoon. Even now I still read books about his topic because I want to widen my perspective and understanding.

This organization idea of the children’s books is an idea I haven’t seen before and I feel like it’s a method that should have been explored before but unfortunately wasn’t thought of. From experience with this I do think that literature is a good teaching tool.  I think that if others thought of ways like literature to communicate about the topic of LGBT, a lot of people would have become more open minded and even if they didn’t agree with it they would at least respect people’s choices. I think that what they do, creating books for children containing factors of LGBT is good. Childhood exposure seems like a very effective way of getting people to understand everyone is different, but being different doesn’t make you any less human or a bad person.” 

Max:

“Before the session, I always believed that the main factor in shifting our understanding and normalising various issues was the media. That tv shows and movies were the reason why so many members of the older generations viewed the LGBTQ+ community with contempt or cold indifference. However, after communicating with the leaders of Pride and Less Prejudice, the factor of childhood exposure seemed much more impactful than I initially believed.

Growing up, I had never been exposed to anything outside the cisgender, heteronormative themes that are most commonly shown in children’s books and is the main factor why parents believe that their children shouldn’t be exposed to anything other than the default storylines as they weren’t exposed to anything different either. I don’t think that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community should be such a big deal and the way to normalise being a part of a community that 1 in 10 people are a part of starts from the ground up. Teaching children that being lesbian or gay or transgender is a perfectly normal and natural thing is key in making this world safer to those who are persecuted and judged simply for existing. And the main way to teach these children that it is normal is by giving them an adequate and accurate representation of the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Through the interview conducted with the Pride and Less Prejudice organization, I learnt that teaching children that being not just tolerant but having an understanding of the LGBTQ+ community and understanding the struggles that the community faces in the grand scheme like laws that actively target and discriminate trans people or marriage inequality but also individual problems like harassment or hate crimes is essential in fostering a more understanding world and the first step towards this is by educating children at a young age and de-stigmatizing the LGBTQ+ community through literature. This expanded my knowledge and my understanding of how to tackle societal problems like bigotry and how small activities like providing inclusive literature can contribute to the normalization of the LGBTQ+ community and make the world a better place for those individuals.”

Shivonne:

“I think I generally understood the importance of representation in the media. However, I had always assumed the term “media” meant exclusively digital media, like TV shows or movies. I never thought about how to extend this representation for children. 

Literature is an important part of learning and growing up. Everyone remembers their favourite book in kindergarten, and I’m sure many people could talk about the impact that book had on them. The presence of LGBTQ+ representation in children's books helps break apart the idea that things that are different or unfamiliar are automatically bad. Generally, people are afraid of what they don’t know; ignorance is dangerous, but education is key to breaking down the stigma and creating a more accepting society. During our Q&A session, I think Lisa mentioned the importance of literature in many languages to reach a wider audience. I think this is very important in educating children about LGBTQ+ issues around the world. 

I remember reading “George” by Alex Gino, a story about a young trans girl, when I was twelve and feeling like I’ve gained a new perspective. Prior to reading that book, I never really knew anything about the LGBTQ+ community, let alone non-cisgender people. I can imagine how impactful the novel would be to a transgender person. With more representation like that, more children would feel confident and safe to be who they are.

I think that Pride and Less Prejudice is a brilliant organisation that aims to create a safer environment for children to feel more understood. But I also think that it is up to the school or local library to take on this responsibility of providing these resources to children. “George” was the only piece of literature aimed towards children I’ve come across that had any LGBTQ+ representation. Outside of that, the only representation I’ve come across were in TV shows, only some movies.”