BAD EDUCATION

Photograph: Jamie Baker

BY ALEX HOPKINS

Homophobia reared its ugly head again this week with four gay suicides in three weeks. The deaths of Tyler Clementi, Seth Walsh, Asher Brown and Billy Lucas are all the consequences of homophobic bullying which can no longer be ignored.

I was personally outraged by the behaviour of someone I know on Facebook this week. This individual thought it would be amusing to hijack a friend’s account and state “X is feeling quite queer” in his status. Apparently this was harmless remark.

Presumably it is the same sort of harmless remark that justifies the use of the words “gay” and “queer” by school children as pejorative terms? And presumably the ongoing suffering that this kind of systematic “harmless” abuse brings has no relation what so ever with gay teenagers killing themselves?

What is even more disturbing is that the individual responsible is a teacher. An English teacher no less, who one would expect to have a mature grasp about the power of language. Sadly this does not seem to be the case. Even sadder is the fact that this person was utterly self-righteous in his lame defence.

I wrote an article for Out There last year focussing on homophobia in football. In the piece I drew links between ingrained anti-gay attitudes on the football pitch and in the classroom. The areas, I believe are intricately linked and I am copying the relevant section below.

As we all know, the breeding ground for homophobia is ignorance and intolerance. If as a society we are going to address these issues, it means we have to start early. It begins with re-educating school children, stamping out anti-gay bullying and eradicating the use of gay as an insult in our schools.

And in many ways, the battle we face in the schools isn’t dissimilar to the fight to address gay hatred in the football world. Both are hostile environments in which homophobia is rife and largely accepted. More depressing still is the predominant attitude that it goes with the territory.

The perceptions of normal heterosexual behaviour displayed in football are passed on to boys from year dot. They are taught to behave in a certain way. You only have to look at the way a father plays with a toddler. It’s a time honoured performance inflected by notions of butch, brusque energy and undemonstrative behaviour. How can we blame kids for carrying this into the classroom?

The attitudes themselves are passed down to pupils from teachers and parents who often subscribe on varying levels, at times unconsciously, to the same precepts of heteronormativity. The list is endless: Open displays of affection are not considered macho, pink is a girl’s colour, boys have to be good at sport.

In fact in many ways it is like going to a football match – you have to join in the chanting, the boozing and the butch swaggering in order to fit in. If you don’t you risk being singled out and victimised yourself. In this way straight male behaviour is as much inflected by mask wearing as gay behaviour is. If your heterosexual male lets his mask slip for just a second he is accused of being unmanly, feminine, or heaven forbid ‘a poof.’

It is all too easy to get swept along by the group mentality. Under the right conditions, the need to belong and to fit in can make a person do untypical things. Is it not inconceivable to imagine even the most right on metrosexual male joining in with a few ‘harmless’ gay taunts at a football match because he is paranoid about fitting the mould? He might know it is the wrong thing to do. He may even be a little frightened about what it says about him, but he is more than likely more terrified of what the raucous group around him will think if he turns around and says ‘no, that is wrong.’

It is not worlds away from a classroom situation. Faced with a pack of rioting brats it is going to take courage to rebuke them for homophobia. ‘Are you gay then sir?’ is the dreaded response. ‘Do I really need the hassle of dealing with this?’ is likely to be the internal dialogue. ‘If I pull the kid up on it isn’t it going to cast doubt on my own masculinity?’

The powerful effect that football has on male stereotypes and their deeply ingrained relationship with homophobia means that the only chance of changing attitudes among young people, who after all represent society’s future, has to come from the Football Association and clubs themselves. Like teachers, they are privileged to be in positions of authority. But, of course, with privileges come responsibilities.

Not all teachers lack insight about the influence that their behaviour can have. I have spoken to two other teaching friends this week who actively challenge homophobic abuse amongst their kids. It is often difficult for them to do so, yet they remain steadfast. It is these people who can bring about change. It is these people who we should respect.

As for the type of teachers who think it appropriate to take a cheap little dig at minorities on a public forum in the interests of amusement I have little left to say. It is time they woke up and faced the implications of their actions. It is time they questioned whether they should be in charge of the future generation.