Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

This week we are focusing on gender and sexual orientation and the role they play in the early childhood classroom.  I enjoyed watching the videos and was frantically writing down many of the ideas and activities to use in my classroom.  I never realized how children’s books, movies, games, and toys generally depict traditional Caucasian families with a mother and a father until I got married and had children.  Both of my parents are Caucasian and I grew up in a traditional household.  My husband is black and we have two beautiful children together.  Since having my children, I have been trying to find books depicting mixed families and have been having a difficult time.  This made me realize that the materials in my classroom only depict traditional families and I need to find materials that depict various family structures to help validate the settings my students may be coming from.  

If I came across someone who believed that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals and same sex partnered families I would first ask them why they felt that way.  I would then ask them to think about how they would feel if their one of their own children told them they were gay in the future and began a family of their own.  Wouldn’t they want their grandchildren in a classroom with materials that validated their family structure?  As educators, whether we agree with same sex families or not, it is our job to educate children about every type of family and to validate the environments they are coming from.  It is our differences that truly make this world a better place and we need to teach our children how to embrace differences and value them in others.