Elementary school stresses gender awareness

Chabot Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), in Oakland, hosted an educational presentation entitled Gender Spectrum Thursday night to teach parents and teachers about the different genders students could use to identify themselves.

“The goal of this presentation is to give parents and teachers the tools to give their children and students permission to be themselves, and to give other kids the language to deal with it,” said Professor Joel Baum, Gender Spectrum presenter and California State University, East Bay Educational Leadership instructor told the 20-member audience.

Chabot Elementary School is one of the many institutes that has reached out to Gender Spectrum for their expertise on  “gender expansive,” a term that is defined as a gender that expands past the socially constructed ideas of “male” and “female”.

“How am I going to support my child in being different when the world won’t,” asked Laura Burnett. “The adults in the community also need to learn to respect the differences, that is the meat of the problem,” Burnett added. She was one of several parents who said they had concerns about their children, and wondered if supporting and teaching one’s own children to be respectful of others’ differences may be enough to ensure the students will be respectful with or without adult supervision.

The Gender Spectrum is an educational company, which bases its presentation on the idea that gender is multifaceted. Gender is comprised of three factors: biology, identity, and expression, according to Baum. “Biology refers to the genitalia, identity refers to how the child feels internally, and expression refers to how the child expresses the internal feelings” stated Chabot teacher Debbie Flanagan. The variation in the combination of these three factors is a child’s gender.

“I want to let kids know in an age appropriate way that there are plenty of ways to be a boy and plenty of ways to be a girl. It is never okay to make fun of someone because they express differently,” stated Principal Jessica Cannon.

Chabot Elementary School reinforces their inclusiveness regarding gender, family, and culture by being a part of a program called Welcoming Schools, whose main goal is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) inclusiveness added Principal Cannon. Although LGBTQ refers to sexual orientation, gender is not sexually based. “Gender and sexual orientation are different. We take a simple term like gender and put a very adult lens on it,” added Baum.

Some parents asked how they should handle their child if they sensed that he or she may identify as a gender other than male or female. Persistence, insistence, and consistence are the three factors that Baum stresses. Persistence of the child to act differently, the insistence of the child in letting the parent know their preference, and the consistence of the child once the parent allows them to act on their feelings. Whether the child identifies as a boy, a girl, or something else they must have the space and support to make the necessary transitions, the presentation stressed.

The idea of the gender spectrum is fairly new and unknown, however, “it’s okay not to know, but once you know, it’s impossible to not know,” concluded Baum.