Wow,
Jayne, sounds like your education system is quite thorough.
Back on subject, though, I remember quite a few instances of homophobia when I was younger. For instance, I once caught flack from the other students for blowing a kiss at another girl. I also had some crushes which made me kind hang around my object at the moment, wait after school to walk (part of the way) home. I was the "weird kid" and something of a wimp since I never really fought back, just slunk to a corner somewhere. It didn't really help that I was something of a nerd, either.
Teacher crushes were really excruciating. I'd try to pay attention and wind up staring and then hanging around just for a smile or a compliment. I really hated being attracted to a teacher or boss, even now. It would severely distract me from doing my work hovering between seeking attention and fearing rejection.
I didn't know what "faggot" or "dyke" meant, but I understood "gay" and "homosexual" and didn't really make the connection until I was a teenager. I could never understand the homophobia I came across back then. Someone would make a comment about "queers" and when I would ask what the big deal was, I'd get blank looks.
When the AIDS epidemic first hit in the 80's, there was some sort of "gay panic" among my classmates. Calling someone a "faggot" or "queer" became instant fighting words. Back then, nobody really understood the nature of HIV/AIDS. All we knew was that it was a terrible disease that inflicted gay men. Fortunately, quite a few teachers took the time to explain it to us. In junior high, a teacher showed us this tape that explained what AIDS was and how someone got it. Much emphaisis was made on the point that it wasn't transmitted through casual comment. Then, a friend of mine made her science project about HIV/AIDS. We learned a lot from that and she won first prize in Biology (I aced the Physics bit
). Later in high school, I had a Health class which extensively covered just about every manner of sex education you can imagine (and this was in New York). We learned all about birth control, pregnancy, masturbation, all manners of sexual expression (yes, we covered bestiality too). Of course, I knew most of it from books I'd read earlier, but the biggest impact for me was when Mr. C (eh, can't remember his name at the moment. Gym teacher) devoted most of the semsester about AIDS; what causes it, what can be done to prevent it and condoms, condoms, condoms (did I mention this was in New York?). A lot of this was interwoven into the other subjects. I learned a lot from that class and took it to heart. Better, even back then in high school, aside from a few nasty comments here and there, nobody really cared about who was gay or not. I was still unsure at that point but I fit right in with a few circles.
At any rate, my queerness has given me a unique outlook on life. My best friend in high school once asked me to imagine if the whole world was gay and was only became straight to have kids. Sounds nice, but we're already a piece of a huge tapestry called life. We have our place here, it's just that everyone else hasn't figured it out yet.
But they will...
