Thursday, March 13. 2008"It's STILL Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in Schools": A Look at the 10-Year Anniversary Video
“Most of the time, I put gays and lesbians down. I know it’s not right, but I do it anyway. I say things like ‘gay men molest children.’ But that’s not true. Most of the time, I don’t even know what I’m saying. I say it all out of ignorance. I should find out what’s true first before saying anything about gays and lesbians.”
 That’s one of the more memorable quotes from Debra Chasnoff and Helen S. Cohen’s 1997 ground-breaking documentary, It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in Schools. The film showed teachers launching open, non-judgmental, age-appropriate discussions with students of varied ages, locations, and backgrounds about what it means to be gay. Students spoke candidly about their perception and acknowledged stereotypes of LGB people, and educators testified about the importance of addressing LGB issues at an early age. Chasnoff and Cohen made the documentary with the hope of showing parents and educators that “children are eager and able to wrestle with stereotypes and absorb facts about what it means to be gay or lesbian,” and without a doubt, the film shows this to be true. Now, Chasnoff and Cohen bring us their tenth anniversary re-release, It’s STILL Elementary, which chronicles the making of the original, provides updates on the students, and explores the educational and political changes that have taken place since 1997. What’s abundantly clear is the impact of this film: though it sparked debate and vandalism when PBS aired it in Idaho in 1999, according to the producers, “hundreds of schools have shown it to their students, resulting in an entire generation of young people who have had exposure to lesbian and gay issues in their classroom with teachers they respect.” The Mayor’s office in Chicago even mandated that the film be shown city-wide. It’s STILL Elementary is informative and mildly stirring, and though not a replacement for the more charming original, could serve as a helpful companion piece for educators, social workers, community groups, parents, and anyone who cares deeply about what is being done to make the next generation safe for LGBT people.
By guest contributor — Jess Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
|
SupportersLinks We LikeBen Yee Public Advocate NYC
Rey Pamatmat Playwright Bart's Trabaca Chroma Queer Literary Journal Desperate Kingdoms Doug Ireland Immigration Equality The Lesbian and Gay Foundation UK Little Yellow Different My Porch Blog Pam's House Blend play rey play Queer Podcasting Directory Queer Day The Republic of T YVY Mag Ad Links The Maneuver - film about the man behind Heimlich Maneuver Web Usability Consultants Holiday Promotional Products & Business Gifts SponsorsSyndicate This BlogBlog AdministrationBlog Directories  |
About Big Queer |
