Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places

     This article was very powerfully because it had a personal story that a women was able to talk about and share to the world. At first, it was interesting to me that the students were able to understand the word "gay" and relate the meaning to the relationship of 2 guys, the word "lesbian", which the teacher was, was different to them. As I continued to read more about her students reactions, I remembered a time in 3rd grade when this happened to my class. 

     I cannot remember exactly why the word "lesbian" came up, but when my teacher said it in front of an entire class of 7 and 8 year olds, there was many giggles and chatter. Immediately, my teacher yelled at the entire class because her sister was a lesbian and we all got in trouble. Our punishment was to write a sentence about making fun of people about 20 times. I remember this sort of well because this created a big uproar with the parents. During the next week, many parents came in and talked/yelled at the teacher for punishing the students for laughing. It is hard to say who, or if anyone was in the wrong here. Were us students just not educated about gayness yet so to us it was still new and unknown? Or, was the teacher wrong for not accepting the fact that the 3rd graders thought that the word "lesbian" was funny?

     I found a link on YouTube about children 5-13's reaction to gay marriage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJxnYgP6D8  Most of the children had an understanding of gayness. Some of the younger children had a more shocked reaction but still were not completely shocked. I am not sure if it had to do with their life and how they were brought up or if they were educated on the issue so it was not a big deal to them anymore.