Unpacking Orlando

​How do you talk to students about a homophobic Muslim walking into a gay nightclub during the month of Ramadan, and killing 50 people and wounding dozens more before being shot by police?  This question holds particular significance if you yourself happen to identify as queer, and if you happen to be teaching in a class where a good chunk of your students are Muslim!

Crying Rainbow reblogged from Drawception.com

Today's average middle school is rife with both homophobia and islamophobia... and not just amongst the student body!!  I have spent a great deal of time this year working with my students to develop a growth mindset that I hope will serve them well both as academic learners and as citizens of the multi-cultural, pluralist society we call Canada.  An event like the one that happened this weekend in Orlando, FLA, will for sure test their mettle, so to speak.

Regardless of your teaching or parenting context, I think it's an important news story to unpack with students, and thanks to several colleagues who shared some timely resources with me, I would like to offer some ideas for how you might do this with your own students, Grade 4 and up...

Begin with a "Third Point"

After a brief introduction summarizing/acknowledging the events of the weekend, you might share a news article and brief video like this one, from CP 24.  While students are watching, I would have them consider certain questions or ideas.  Below are some examples I'll be sharing with my class:

1. Who are some of the allies shown in the video? What makes them "allies"?
2. While Mayor Tory is speaking, some hands can be seen moving off to the left.  What do you think this person is doing? (TEACHER NOTE: It's an ASL interpreter... might lead to a discussion of why it's important to "translate" these sorts of events so all can understand and access them; what are some ways we can help interpret for others in various situations?)
3. What surprises you about Councilor Wong-Tam's relationship? (TEACHER NOTE: She is engaged to a Muslim woman; sometimes people stereotype and stay there are no queer Muslims)
4. What are some ways that the people in this video are fighting homophobia and islamophobia?
5. What are some things that YOU can do to:

• ​respond when you hear a homophobic comment? ("That's so gay!", "he's a fag", "That shirt is for girls", etc.)
• respond when you hear an islamophobic comment? ("Muslims are all terrorists", "Muslims are all homophobic", etc.)
• fight homophobia and islamophobia BEFORE it happens?

Letting them watch the clip twice may be helpful in allowing students to dig a little deeper.
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Provide Open Space for Dialogue

Classrooms come with a diversity of opinions and personal biases.  Encourage students to consider their own biases as they explore their reactions to what happened.  Building in structures like "think-pair-share" may allow students more opportunity to talk with others about their feelings.

While you want students to share authentically, it's also important to reinforce the respectful "talk moves" you've hopefully been teaching students all year.  It's okay to disagree, but it must be done respectfully.  Questions, rather than openly stated disagreements, can be powerful ways to find out more.

Inviting parents and families into the conversation helps to extend the dialogue at home.

Next Steps

Unpacking isn't enough... students need to feel empowered to do something.  Taking the conversation further is one idea, especially for older students.  Here is a newscast by Desmond Cole.  In it, he addresses the massacre, and talks with various guests about the multiple facets of one's identity, and intersectionality.  This might be assigned for students to share at home with family, thereby extending the conversation beyond the classroom walls.

Desmond Cole, columnist and podcast host

Students might also be encouraged to write a letter to the survivors, encouraging them, or to the family members of some of the victims.  Other ideas include researching homophobic laws in the US and Canada, finding out more about Islam to combat the stereotypes out there and reading up on prominent allies in the LGBTQ and/or Muslim communities.

Finding ways to celebrate diversity and challenge homophobia and islamophobia at school are additional important extensions to the conversation.

How will YOU be unpacking this with the young people in your life?  I look forward to your responses -- feel free to leave a comment below, or contact me directly.