Important Words to Protect Our Children
Dustin on Sep 18th 2007
As we know from the feedback we got on the Rainbow Report Card, a lot of LGBTQ parents out there are generally pleased with the school environments their kids are in. Oftentimes these parents find it hard to get energized around pushing for specific LGBTQ inclusive policies at their schools because the schools are already doing a decent job of including our families. It’s an understandable dilemma. You don’t want to rock the boat because the boat—right now, at least—is moving along pretty well.
Or is it?
The problem with generally good schools without specific policies that protect our families is that, in the event that there ever is a serious problem or incident, you, the parent, may have little to no legal ground to stand on, should you need to take the issue to the police or courts. A school with a fantastically inclusive principal may unknowingly hire a homophobic teacher, who sometime during the year tells the kids that “married mom and dad couples” are the only real kind of parents in the world. Catastrophe! So you go to the principal, normally an ally, and for a number of reasons—she/he is worried about backlash from the school board, a local teachers union, etc.—she/he gives you the cold shoulder. All of a sudden the great school you thought your children were in no longer seems so great. Where do you turn?
If you’d started earlier, before the homophobic incident, working with the administration to put their good behavior toward LGBTQ families on paper—writing and implementing nondiscrimination & anti-harassment policies, curricular changes to include our families, etc.—you’d be able to show the principal that her or his inaction was against school policy and potentially illegal.
No one wants to imagine a time in which this conversation would take place. But it’s better to plan ahead than be caught unawares. Think of protective school policies like life insurance—invest in it now so it’s there for you later.
To find out more about protecting the children of LGBTQ parents in schools, fill out the Rainbow Report Card, an interactive, personalized online tool that gives doable recommendations to parents and allies on how to make schools safe and inclusive of all loving families.
