“Since it is not in the official academic curriculum of most schools, unlike curricular representations of ethnic or racial minorities, discussions of homosexuality fall to the wills of teachers in determining the level of representation homosexuality will have in their classrooms. This is a clear example of how the hidden curriculum bleeds into the overt curriculum, causing a lack of visibility, understanding and representation of sexual minority perspectives.”
Castro & Sujak (2012)

I hadn’t thought of the different amounts of representation different minority groups get within a given curriculum until now. Whereas heterosexual youth can find representations of their own sexuality quite easily (in literature, media, advertisements, etc.), sexual minority youth face a lack of representation and, consequently, a lack of acceptance and understanding. If it’s entirely up to the teachers how much or how little representation sexual minority groups receive in their classes, we may end up with some classrooms that receive a lot of exposure to these perspectives and some classrooms that receive zero exposure. This means that whether this becomes part of a student’s curriculum can simply be left up to luck, which is why a schoolwide curriculum is preferable. I wonder how we could go about changing a curriculum to be more inclusive. I think we are moving in that direction, albeit slowly. But perhaps this is only true of certain areas. I’d be interested to know how many schools have implemented a curriculum that explicitly includes themes and perspectives of sexual minorities.

Now I’m wondering, if I were to work in a school that did not include any such themes or perspectives in the curriculum, would I be able to successfully incorporate them myself? And, if I were to try to do this, what would be the most appropriate way to do it? I would hate to accidently perpetuate stereotypes instead of fostering understanding, compassion, and acceptance. Also, how old do students need to be to be introduced to these topics? Personally, I always felt that the possibility of being gay or bisexual could be (and probably should be) introduced when students are just little kids. They don’t actually have to learn about intercourse or anything like that, because homosexual relationships are more than that. Children see heterosexual couples all the time (such as their parents, friends’ parents, older siblings, in movies and TV shows, in books, etc.) and it’s not controversial. They know what heterosexual relationships are from a very young age, so why not introduce the possibility of a homosexual relationship at a young age as well? This could encourage acceptance early on. I know of a few children’s books that include homosexual characters, but I wonder if it is ever looked down upon to use them in class. Would parents complain? Would the principal be upset? I just feel like if we started integrating these ideas into the curriculum at a young age, sexual minority youth might be better understood and feel more comfortable in middle and high school settings as they discover their own sexualities.