Homophobia at Hamilton
Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels.
Evan Rosenau
Friday, April 14, 2023. April 14, 2022. April 24, 2021.
Every April since 1996, students across America have remained silent; standing in solidarity with those whose voices have been suppressed. On these days of silence, students and organizations take a stand, working to ensure their communities become more safe and inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. Nationwide, millions of people participate annually, across schools, businesses, universities, and sporting events. Yet, despite being an incredibly powerful and vocal protest that has existed for decades, its protestors still are not treated equally.
At our own school, students record having slurs yelled at them, their gender attacked, and locker decs, posted by Hamilton’s own Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), being torn down, shredded, and destroyed. Through all of these conflicts, these students are abandoned. Students throughout Hamilton High School school filled out a voluntary survey with one key question: Have you experienced homophobia at Hamilton? Countless students recounted experiencing hateful language or actions directed at them, with some situations even occurring in front of administrators. And yet, these students feel nothing was done to protect them. The Hamilton Student Handbook states:
“The Hamilton School District is committed to a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, color, disability, physical, mental, emotional or learning disability, handicap, or any other factor provided for by state and federal laws and regulations. This policy will prevail in all matters concerning staff, students, the public, educational programs and services, and individuals with whom the Board does business.”
In spite of this, teachers received an email in September suggesting if a student was wishing to be referred to by a different name than that listed in Infinite Campus, they should, “please let the appropriate counselor know…Until the counselor reaches back out to the teacher, the recommendation is to use the information in IC for names/pronouns.” While the email goes on to say they “have a gender support plan in place that assists in conversations and plans between students and families when appropriate,” plans such as these can often create worse environments for students. Whether it be outing them to unsupportive family members, creating an unsafe environment at home, or pushing them to take steps they are not yet comfortable with, often, limiting a student’s freedom of expression causes more harm than good.
Countless times, the Hamilton School District has declared its policies against discrimination, as stated once more in the section of the Student Handbook entitled Derogatory Statements:
“It is expected that students will use appropriate language. Hateful language that does not respect individual characteristics, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, cultural background, religious belief, body type, etc. is inappropriate and will not be tolerated…Progressive discipline includes consequences, which range from reprimand, to out-of-school suspension and possible police referral.”
And again, in Student Harassment (Pg. 44), Non-Discrimination (Pg. 42), and Student Expectations (Pg. 25), all throughout the Student Handbook. But countless numbers of students still face homophobia every day, while an equal number of students are allowed to continue using hateful language and actions seemingly without consequence.
These issues cannot be ignored. LGBTQ+ students experience this kind of hate daily. At its worst, multiple students reported having traumatizing letters left in their lockers, ranging from slurs to death threats. That is terrifying, and should be acted upon. But when reported to administration, all of these students said that nothing came of their struggles. This may be because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects the privacy of students’ educational records, including academic infringements. Therefore, any school can say they may be taking disciplinary action, and simply cannot share it, even if they are not. As long as these events stay within the school, and no law enforcement opens a case, administrators are protected by this law, even in cases such as this:
“State law…provides that ‘whoever threatens to cause the death of or bodily harm to any person or to damage any person’s property is guilty of a Class I felony.’ Additional school-related consequences may include suspension and/or referral for expulsion.” (Threats to School Safety pg. 45)
“Kill the gays,” or “All gay people should be target practice and should be human tested on,” messages actually received in lockers, are without a doubt, a threat of bodily harm. In some of these cases, students witnessed these letters being placed, and when reported, administration did seemingly little to nothing to hold these offenders accountable.
There are numerous similar reports; one person recalled people purposefully dead-naming them throughout their day, both in and out of school. They aren’t alone; countless others recounted people intentionally misgendering them, using a dead name, or mocking them. People should not be scared to share their preferred names or pronouns. The National Library of Medicine states, “82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth,” and one of the biggest factors in such a statistic is “interpersonal and environmental microaggressions,” such as these.
However, “school belonging, family support, and peer support” were all cited as protective factors in a young LGBTQ+ person’s life. The Cleveland Clinic puts it wonderfully, “You love your name — or you’ve embraced a nickname that you like even more. Either way, your birth name or magnificent moniker means a lot to you. And when someone gets it wrong or insists on calling you something that’s quite cringeworthy, you might feel annoyed or disrespected.” If you feel aggravated when someone gives you an odd nickname, imagine the pain inflicted when that name is a symbol of the work you have put into becoming comfortable with who you are.
Now, these instances of homophobia and disregard for our peers could take up pages and pages. Pages of slurs, stereotyping, mistreatment, general looks of disgust, destroyed Pride memorabilia, mimicking oral sex, calling someone “that gay kid,” even throwing food at people who are different; the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, these very real issues of discrimination and microaggressions are being written off as just “issues of immaturity,” by the people they are being reported to here at Hamilton.
In an annual survey launched by The Trevor Project, a national organization working to create safe spaces for young LGBTQ+ youth, they found “41% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year…However, transgender and nonbinary youth who reported that all of the people they live with respect their pronouns reported lower rates of attempting suicide…a majority of LGBTQ youth reported being verbally harassed at school because people thought they were LGBTQ. Roughly half of transgender and nonbinary youth found their school to be gender-affirming, and those who did, reported lower rates of attempting suicide.” Once again, it is proven undeniable that putting in the work to create a safe space, whether at home or at school, can save lives.
Here at Hamilton, we do not have a safe space. Those part of the LGBTQ+ community, and even those who are not, face discrimination and hate every single day. And though they try to make a change, administration continues to overlook the issues that are occurring daily. Even though intent might be good, the continued inaction by administration to truly address the hate and the lack of consequences the offenders face makes it seem that those “protected” by state law are rarely defended. But, it is also important to mention there are teachers working day in and day out to make sure the students they are teaching feel safe in their classroom. This is positive, but these safe classrooms need to extend to all of the spaces at Hamilton.
While collecting dozens of student experiences for this article, almost no one was willing to share their name. It is telling of the culture at Hamilton that every one of these people do not feel safe enough, or supported enough, to truly share what is happening to them and get the help they deserve. Here is just one student’s experience:
“I watched as people took pictures of Pride artwork and spread it on social media and in private group chats making fun of it, during class and on social media. Multiple people made homophobic jokes that ended up threatening the LGBTQ community. The post that most stuck with me was shown to me by my sister. It was a picture of the start of Pride month poster and the caption read, ‘LGBTQ: let’s go beat the queers. F*** Pride month.’ We reported all of these incidents to the school board*, and as far as I am aware, nothing has been done. I haven’t gone back to GSA since.”
*Editor’s note: Charger Press was unable to find evidence that a report was filed to the school board.
These incidents are not isolated; numerous students shared similar experiences:
“One of my friends gave me a Pride sticker and I decided to put it on my phone case, but as I was putting it on someone stopped me and asked what I was doing and why in almost a disgusted tone. I let them know I was simply putting the sticker on my case because I’m a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. They then proceeded to roll their eyes and then just stop talking. So I changed the subject to something else which included one of my friends who’s also a part of the community. As I dropped their name, the person I was talking to said, ‘Ew, I don’t wanna sit with you anymore,’ and then they turned to their friend to say, ‘That’s that gay kid.’ Although they weren’t talking about me that way, I felt uncomfortable and hurt that they would view queer people like that. I also feared that they would start to see me differently now that I have come out to them.”
“Last year I had a large group of juniors that would shout my deadname at me in the hallway and the parking lot; early this year I saw a group of kids making hand gestures mimicking oral sex while staring and pointing at me.”
And finally, this student’s experience shows the lack of action LGBTQ+ students have come to expect from administration:
"There were several kids screaming the F-slur in the hallway. One time it happened in front of [one of Hamilton High School’s administrators] and I pointed to the kid who said the slur and [this administrator] didn’t even attempt to go talk to the student. There are slurs and names said directly to students as well, and I’ve experienced this in class as well as in the halls."
People should not be scared to be who they are, especially during a federally recognized month (Pride month) to support them. They should not be scared to go somewhere to feel supported. They should not be scared to ask you to use a different word to describe them if it helps them feel better on a daily basis. Even writing this, I’ll admit, I feel a bit scared recounting the experiences of so many people both in and around Hamilton.
What’s the solution? Pride month is swiftly approaching, and it can be a time of incredibly high tensions. So if you or anyone you know is experiencing discrimination, please seek assistance. The Hamilton School District asks you to “Please use the following procedure (See Appendix: Board Policy 411):
● Talk to a trusted teacher, counselor, or other staff member about any concerns.
● Report complaints to the school administrator in writing.
● The school administration will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five days. Within fifteen days, the school administrator will investigate and make a decision regarding the complaint.
● The decision may be appealed, in writing, to the school board within fifteen school days of the decision. The Board must hear the appeal within thirty calendar days of receiving the appeal request. The Board must inform the student of their decision within fifteen calendar days following the hearing.
● The decision to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may be appealed within thirty calendar days.
● Discrimination complaints involving special education or programs governed by federal law have different procedures. This information can be obtained from the school district Supervisor of Special Services.” (Equal Educational Opportunities pg. 42)
Reports cannot be ignored forever, experiences cannot be ignored forever, and procedures are in place to ensure that. Talk to a teacher. Talk to an adult. If you have a supportive household and use a different name or pronoun, ask about changing it in Infinite Campus; and please, report the issues you are having, and if you are the issue, try to have some empathy for those on the other side. You may not know what they’re going through, but since it doesn’t severely impact your day, adding negativity to the mix certainly does not help. Homophobia is present everywhere at Hamilton, and we all, teachers and students, need to step up and do our best to support those among us who are hurt every day, whether it be verbally or physically.
If you do not feel comfortable reaching out to a school administrator, use the anonymous Hamilton High School "See Something, Say Something" form.
In addition, if you or anyone you know is struggling with their gender identity, mental health, sexual orientation, or anything at all, go to www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/ to find a variety of confidential support options.
Sources:
Hamilton High School Student Handbook
Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors
