by Amandda
The following morning, at the beginning of class, I told them we would structure the discussion as an “author’s chair” session. I asked them to write in their journals at least one question and at least one comment concerning the memoir. Their questions and comments guided the discussion.

Faruk wanted to know why I became a teacher and how literature affected my life. Though at first he used the word “audacious,” Zafir explained he thought it was “courageous” that I shared this piece with the class. Then Erman asked, “If you had not become a teacher, would you have confronted your homophobia?”

I told the class that it is possible that if I had gone into business or some other field something might also have pushed me MBT Shoes to examine my homophobia. Nothing in my education, from public schooling through pursuing a master’s degree had done so. I also told them that many teachers go through similar situations as mine but still fail to examine and confront their homophobia.

Canan’s question followed: “Do you think a person can be homophobic after they learn about this? I mean, what if a person knows that homophobia is an irrational fear, but still feels uncomfortable with homosexuality and places it in their mind as ‘abnormal.’ Is it possible to still feel uncomfortable around gay people but not be homophobic? I mean, not act prejudiced?”

I asked Canan what she thought. “I think it is a delicate subject,” Canan responded. “I don’t like what I have seen and do not think anyone should be hurt or treated unfairly. But I am personally not comfortable with homosexuality. I don’t think it is normal.” There was silence. Each student seemed to be pondering his or her own response. A few quietly nodded.

“It is a delicate subject,” I said. “I think it is important that you recognize your discomfort. I also think it is important that your position is that all people should be treated fairly and that nobody should be hurt or abused for who they are. These are fundamental first steps for overcoming homophobia and creating a more just and humane world.”

Selim asked, “You said Paul [the gay student in the Singapore class] became an outsider in your classroom. Would you treat him differently now?”

I explained to them that since my experience as Paul’s teacher almost 20 years ago, I have done much work to confront my homophobia and learn about sexual identity, and that I no longer hold this irrational and intense fear. In this sense, knowledge and familiarity has empowered me. I also admitted that as a teacher I was much better now at dealing with “delicate issues.” I reminded them of the many moments in our curriculum this year when issues of sexuality had surfaced. Several smiled and nodded as they recalled their initial reactions to learning that Elizabeth Bishop in “One Art” was probably recalling her own lost love of a long-term same-sex partner.

For the last part of this mini-unit we read aloud a New York Times article published that week, “A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeatedly” (Barry). (A picture of a bruised and battered Billy, the boy the article Clearance MBT Shoes focuses on, appeared in the slide show the previous day.) This short feature article hit the mark. Students were shocked by how this boy, who may or may not even be gay, has since elementary school been the target of bullying, because of other children’s “fear” and “aversion” to difference.

In reaction to the article, students asked a series of questions concerning whether or not Billy is gay. Selim said the perception might come from how he is dressed, how he talks and gestures, the fact that he doesn’t do “boy things” or that he spends too much time talking to girls. He said, “In Turkey, if a boy does not play soccer, other boys always say ‘He must be gay.’” They debated this issue for about a minute, until Canan declared, “We can’t know. But it doesn’t matter. It’s an incident of bullying. All around the world it is seen as perfectly natural for boys to fight. I think we should focus on the bullying.” Basak added, “It is the bullies’ perceptions that Billy is gay. It is their homophobia.”

In the closing minutes of class, I posed one last question: Could such hate groups emerge in Turkey? Though most of the students said they could not, several students were not so sure. They were simply not aware of anything like this in their country. Hav?ing anticipated this situation, I ended the class with four more slides, testimonials by gay and lesbian Turks who know firsthand the pain of homophobia in their land, excerpted from KAOS GL, an LGBT English publication in Turkey since 1994.

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