Preparing for Equity Through the Lens of LGBTQ2S+

I used the Sexuality IAT online study to explore my implicit bias this week. My result suggested that I had a moderate automatic preference for Straight people over Gay people. Like a few of us have already stated, I think the results were disappointing to say the least. We have tried to make such a conscious effort to reshape our thinking from the traditional values, beliefs, and biases that may have been put on us during our developmental years. I was reminded of the saying, the first thought that goes through our mind is what we have been conditioned to think. What you think about next defines who you are.

I reflected on my results to try and make sense of them. I want to disagree with the results because I have spent much of my adult life surrounded by the LGBTQ2S+ community. I was an ally first, then later, a member of the community. So how could I have any sort of preference towards Straight people? The answer for myself might be: I did not meet anyone who was a part of the community until my late teens/early adulthood. I did not grow up hearing about the queer community as much as I should have, to the point where I did not even realize that I was a part of it myself. Therefore I had predominantly heterosexual ideologies and biases for much of my developmental years, making this my “norm.”

I would be curious to see if the results are different for a student who is undergoing the education system during recent years, where all types of sexuality, not just heterosexuality, are discussed more openly and represented in the curriculum.

Radd et al. (2021) describe the importance of how equity-focused leadership involves ongoing learning and reflection (p.42). We may not want to admit the deep-rooted beliefs and biases that we hold. Coming to terms with this information is uncomfortable and may seem to juxtapose the conscious efforts we have made to be open-minded and reshape our thinking. In order to become a better learner, and one that can hold equitable spaces for others, we need to start by reflecting on our own backgrounds, paradigms, and fundamental beliefs. My goal is to continue working through and accepting the dissonant information that Radd et al. (2021, pg. 45) speak of, in order to interpret my newfound understandings.

References

Radd, S., Generett, G. G., Gooden, M. A., & Theoharis, G. (2021). Five practices for equity-focused school leadership. ASCD.

Toronto, September 2021