Starting this blog post reminiscing about my summer job rounding up sheep for castration might not be an obvious connection. But hear me out.
I grew up in rural New Zealand. Talking about sex and gender was not a thing one did, and I was as oblivious to the world of the LGBTQ community as it was possible to be. I was a girl, I was happy to be called "she", and when the teacher began the school day with "Hello boys and girls" I never felt uncomfortable or excluded by that greeting.
However, in the summer, I worked on farms and orchards to earn money, and one summer I helped with "Docking". Docking is when the young lambs are rounded up, and one by one a rubber band is put over their tail and male genital organs. The band restricts blood flow and both the tail and genitals fall off over time. This prevents fly-blight in the tail area and unwanted pregnancies in the herd. It is a standard process for all sheep farmers in New Zealand and it was a long hot day in the sun for the teen workers helping the farm hands. During the day, the workers casually showed me when a lamb appeared with 2 visible sex organs. On the farm, they called them "muftis", but they would have been called hermaphrodites if a veterinarian was present. It was a point of interest, and a new thing to show the teenagers, but not uncommon.
I bring this up, because I grew up with a point of reference to biological differences. Sure there are boys and girls, but sometimes nature gives you something a little different. And it is okay. Our article from RIDE shares that "it is estimated that 1 in 2000 babies is born with biological characteristics of both sexes or of neither sex entirely". As teachers, educators, parents and community members, it is our responsibility to make sure that all students are a right to a "Free and Appropriate Public Education", even the ones that don't fit nicely into societies basic categories. The guidance from RIDE focuses on highlighting the vulnerability of Transgender and Gender Non-conforming youth, and asserting their right to attend a school they feel safe in.
The article "Queering Our Schools" echoed Johnson's plea to "Name It". "The cornerstone of nurturing classrooms is community...Community is built by working through differences not sweeping them under the rug". Like the communities pushing towards a more multicultural education, LGTBQ advocates want more representation across curriculum. They suggest that traditional activities like "Father's Day/Mother's Day/Family Tree" may need re-imagining. I recently experienced the difficulty a "Daddy Daughter" dance can bring. One of my daughter's friends did not have a male role model to bring for a variety of reasons - none of which were her fault or under her control. We welcomed her into our family group, but she had weeks of agonizing over something that excluded her by its very title, through no fault of her own.
Keeping our schools open and welcoming to all students should be an ongoing priority. Sometimes it is as easy as changing the name of an activity, or making sure the family tree has a larger number of branches. Sometimes it involves adults re-learning something they thought they already knew. While the New Zealand docking season is over for the year, and a little hard to access from New England, maybe watching a TED talk about biological differences might help open your brain to what some students feel every day.
"I am different."
"Where do I fit?"
"Will they still like me if they know ME?"
Maybe understanding more, will help create that community that works through differences instead of sweeping them under the rug.
