It’s not all rainbows and unicorns: Straight teacher allies reflect on privilege

Abstract

The role of allies in social movements is an area of social justice activism that is at times celebrated and at other times contested. Sometimes, allies are celebrated for the “good work” that they do to support marginalized people in their struggle against oppression. They undertake challenging and demanding social justice work, often with little to no institutional support or training motivated by a desire to support all the students they teach. In other circumstances, allies are criticized (in some cases quite appropriately) for being naïve, self-interested, privileged, and—put pejoratively—”do-gooders.” Despite the discomfort that discussions of allies and their contributions may cause, particularly for some allies themselves, the role that allies play in social movements is an important area of exploration. In this discussion, I argue that teacher allyship needs to be envisioned differently, but not completely discontinued. Drawing on data from interviews with educators in Ontario, I argue that teacher allies must become responsible assets to social justice by resisting the dominant narrative of allyship and strive for on-going reflexivity.

Keywords:

• Allies
• gay straight alliances
• heteronormativity
• heterosexuality
• LGBT students
• schools
• teachers

Notes

1 I use the term “straight allies” throughout this manuscript to denote those who identify as both straight and cisgender.

2 For more information on Day of Pink and Day of Silence respectively, see: http://dayofpink.org/ and http://www.glsen.org/day-of-silence

3 Also known as an Educational Assistant (EA), or a Teachers’ Assistant (TA).

4 Also known as substitute or supply teachers..

5 The It Gets Better Project™ started in 2010 as a video campaign featuring celebrities/public figures encouraging LGBTQ + youth that their lived experiences with harassment and bullying improves with age.

6 This word is the participant’s word choice. Transgender is the most appropriate term. http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (752-2015-2325).

Notes on contributors

Leigh Potvin

Dr. Leigh Potvin (she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport and the SSHRC Exchange Research Chair in Social Sciences and Humanities at Cape Breton University in Sydney, NS (Canada).