Gay & Lesbian are Not Lewd or Rude

Symbols of smut?
On December 10th 2007, Bethany Laccone, a senior at a Virginia high school, was threatened with suspension if she did not cover up a bright red t-shirt that expressed her pride in being a lesbian. Laccone was told by staff at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, VA, that her shirt violated a section of the school’s dress code prohibiting “bawdy, salacious or sexually suggestive messages.”

And what was the “bawdy,” “suggestive” image on Laccone’s shirt? Two interlocking symbols representing the female gender. There were no eroticized body parts, nor any explicit language. According to Norcom staff, the mere representation of two females joined in a lesbian relationship was, in and of itself, sexually explicit.

Recognizing the pattern
Sadly, Ms. Laccone’s story is not unique. In December, the Ugly Ducklings Campaign was locked out of our account for a week because another member of the blogging community flagged this blog as being possible spam. I can only assume this happened due to our “excessive” use of the words lesbian and gay, as we received a similar spam warning when drafting our e-news. The message advised us that our newsletter, which often contains LGBTQ and its root words, might be blocked from delivery in some in-boxes due to: Use of words common to pornography (porn, xxx, voyeur, etc.)

Enough is enough!
GAY does not equal porn and LESBIAN is not sexually explicit. At the root of both Ms. Laccone’s harassment and our own spam problems is the same bigoted notion that homosexuality is inherently deviant and raunchy. It seems farcical to imagine a young woman getting in trouble for wearing a “Boy Crazy” shirt to school, doesn’t it? Join the Ugly Ducklings Campaign in deconstructing heterosexual privilege in our schools and communities, and vocally celebrate LGBT people for their whole, nuanced selves!

Read more about Bethany Laccone and her super shirt

Colby College Student Reviews Ugly Ducklings

Last week, Colby students hosted a screening of Ugly Ducklings during Pride Week. Below is a fabulous review from one of the students!

The Ugly Ducklings Documentary
Sarah Nagel
Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

On the evening of April 5, a small group of students gathered at a Bridge sponsored event to watch The Ugly Ducklings Documentary and to discuss the harassment of today's gay and lesbian youth. The documentary was produced in a collaborative effort by Hardy Girls, Healthy Women and Greater Waterville's Communities for Children / Youth Coalition and was filmed right here at Colby College.

In an effort to reduce harassment within schools, the film is being distributed to Maine schools along with a community action kit. While the film has very local roots, it attracted attention worldwide through its participation in LGBTQ film festivals in San Francisco, Madrid and Italy. The documentary features interviews with fourteen female actors who participated in a play about bullying and an attempted youth suicide. The actresses discuss their own struggles to overcome harassment and to come to terms with their sexual preferences. The Ugly Duckling puts a very human face on an issue that is all too often ignored and oversimplified.

The film's opening forefronts the devastating consequences of biased based harassment by displaying a short clip of a young girl pulling a noose over her head. The film sites a statistic confirmed by twenty national studies: gay and lesbian youth are 2-5 times more likely to attempt suicide. Another depressing statistic sited by the film is that the typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25.5 times a day. Ugly Ducklings explores this world of harassment by switching between personal anecdotes and theatrical drama. While the film clips of the play help dramatize patterns of harassment, the most compelling aspect of the documentary is the personal testimony of the actresses themselves.

Because the actresses come from diverse backgrounds and age groups, their stories are highly accessible. Their experiences speak to the devastating effects of harassment and bullying in schools. While racial minorities may experience discrimination in schools, they can depend on the support of their families and churches. Gay and lesbian youth, however, feel completely alone; their parents are often more homophobic than their classmates. The actresses explain that one of the most troubling aspects of their schooling is their teachers' indifference to name-calling and bullying. Because students look up to their teachers as role models, it is devastating to watch teachers ignore bullying and implicitly support discrimination.

Along with their experiences with harassment within the school system, the women discuss their sexuality and the ways it influences their relationships and beliefs. In a compelling testimony, an actress describes her suicidal feelings as a preteen. Intense feelings of depression are not an uncommon experience among LGBTQ youth. Most felt they would lose everything when they came out: their best friend, their family and their dreams. The good news is that they didn't. Although most parents were reluctant to believe that their children's homosexuality was anything more than a phase, they continued to love and support their child. As one mother explained, "When you have a homosexual child, you have to deconstruct everything you think you know. It does not necessarily mean your child will have a hard life. It does not necessarily mean you won't have grandchildren."

Another prominent issue discussed in Ugly Ducklings is religious beliefs and homophobia within the church. Statements like, "I don't tell my mom I'm bisexual because she doesn't want me to go to hell" emphasize the ways religious communities contribute to homophobia and serve to distance family members. When it comes to increasing tolerance and changing the way people think about homosexuality, addressing religious issues is of the utmost importance. The film touches on this issue by including clips of a woman discussing her sorrow in being alienated from the church. She clings to her beliefs saying, "No one knows what comes between me and my God but me." By using a multiplicity of voices and faces to address problems of harassment, Ugly Duckling promises to become a useful educational tool.