Infamy, infamy, they've all got it...

Have you heard the story about "the white cishet male" being an oppressed group? 

Have you seen the straight pride march?

Have you heard that "a Christian curriculum" is needed for proper cultural literacy? Or that the "moral question" [of sexuality is] far more complex than the liberal-dominated edu-community seems to understand"?

Note that the first statement was made by a well-known misogynist and proponent of eugenics, who believes in a meritocracy but got his university place and at least one role through nepotism. Despite how very tedious it is, note that it's one amongst many platformed cries from advantaged groups, disguised as victimisation and dressed in faux appeals to reason. There is one goal in mind: to keep the power with those who have always had it.

Note that the 'straight pride' march was organised by a member of the far-right, a group typified by their racism, ethnofascism, and misogyny. Again, note that it's one amongst many platformed cries from advantaged groups, disguised as victimisation and dressed in faux appeals to reason. There is one goal in mind: to keep the power with those who have always had it.

Note that the third statements were made by UK educators, who's self-proclaimed theism and personal interpretation of religious scriptures contributes to the dehumanisation of the LGBTQIA community, members of which they almost certainly reach, and teach (to, and with). Why do I make this bold claim? Because questioning the inclusion of LGBTQIA teaching in the curriculum is de facto questioning of the morality and legitimacy of their existence i.e. if it is wrong to teach it, ergo it is wrong to be it. For a final time, note that it's one amongst many platformed cries from advantaged groups, disguised as victimisation and dressed in faux appeals to reason. There is one goal in mind: to keep the power with those who have always had it.

In the past week I've seen several (white, male, Christian) educators comment on social media that teaching children about the LGBTQIA community through the curriculum should be up for debate, and (carefully infer) that it was an issue that:

- "schools should not cover"

- "Christians have legitimate concerns that are being "ridden rough shod over" including "views on what constitutes a legitimate family structure [that] differ from liberal mainstream".
These views are close, if not the same, to those of Katy Hopkins, and not far from members of the clergy who say teaching about LGBTQIA equality is "state-sanctioned child abuse". 

This is deeply worrying.

We have UK teachers in 2019 espousing inequality under the banner of 'legitimate' concerns. A suggestion: We must not allow use of the term 'legitimacy' to be unquestioned or critiqued; claiming 'legitimacy' in order to seem reasonable is often a rhetorical ploy. It's the 'both sides' argument, aka a false balance. Humanity on one side vs interference in education based on personal interpretation of religious scripture on the other.

Be aware that the clamour is coated in a layer of misdirection. 'Don't throw the baby out with the bath water' they cry; 'don't rip up the traditional ways of doing things, we've come this far, haven't we?' they appeal. 'Let's have an academic conversation about all of this first, don't be too rash!' they plead.
I hear: 'What of our rights to oppress others? What about our rights to be intolerant?'.

In contesting such claims for legitimacy, be aware that you may be attacked. For example, I was accused of "slurring them because they're Catholic", and that I should be left to my "prejudice and hatred". Notice how the ideal of equity for all is twisted into "hatred". And the accusation of religious bigotry. Expose the problem, and you become the problem, as Sara Ahmed so succinctly put it when confronting sexism and racism (though I must stress that as a white man, I use that phrase as illustrative of the concept and not specific to me). Religion and sexuality are not mutually exclusive, however there appear to be some teachers with oppressive views on sexuality that are related to their personal interpretations of their religion. It is not prejudiced to confront this.

Despite record numbers of children calling childline about LGBTQIA abuse; the increasing visibility of victims of hate crimes, bullying, self-harm, and suicide, particularly for indigenous and people of colour; and when:
- more than two thirds avoid holding hands with a same-sex partner for fear of a negative reaction from others
- 2 in 5 experience verbal harassment or physical violence, with 9 in 10 of the most serious incidents unreported
- 2% have undergone conversion or reparative therapy (and a further 5% offered it)
- 91% of transgender boys and 66% of transgender girls experienced harassment at school, leading to depression and isolation...

...isn't it time for action, rather than debate? We need not only to call into question the formative culture and ideological scaffolding through which an exclusive and hostile society reproduces itself, but also to defeat it.

From Jordan Peterson's silly refusal to use non-gendered pronouns and his misogynistic, pseudo-scientific, quasi-Christian ramblings, to Gamergate, to falsely labelling a trans model a 'porn actress' to try and make a point, to teachers claiming victimisation because they don't want to teach that it's perfectly ok to be LGBTQIA, it doesn't take a genius to spot the robust symbiosis between homophobia, misogyny and white supremacy; between toxic masculinity, and white privilege; and between personal interpretations of patriarchal scriptures and/or 'traditional' notions of citizenship and post/neocolonial embodied sovereignty, and the current increase in visibility of violent oppression of marginalised groups.

Note the rising cries from advantaged groups, as the unjust foundations of their ideologies are exposed.

Note how their cries are disguised as victimisation, and dressed in faux appeals to logic and reason.

Note that the concept of time in their world is very different to the urgency within which victims of oppression are situated. For the former, it's a luxury to debate, discuss and re-research with; for the latter, the grains of sand are running out; their time has to be now. 

As teachers, we should ask ourselves 'what can we do in solidarity?' rather than 'how we can continue a 'debate?' that is primed to disadvantage and silence the LGBTQIA community.