Interview with Kyle Huntley

Question: How do you discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in your classroom?

00:00:05

It's a reality of the world we live in. It's a reality for my students. It's reality for some of the teachers and these parents, so when it comes up or when it's relevant to the conversations, I'm mostly very frank, direct. It's just a fact of the world we're in. So, this is a character who acts this way, this a character who was attracted to this, that's the end of it. There's not a big philosophical attachment to it. It is like any analysis; this is the thing we're seeing. What does that tell us? And regardless of what that is, whether LGBTQ or otherwise, it's just part of the analysis or exploration of a concept.

Question: How does SOGI find its way into the classroom?

 00:00:45

There are times where they're missing something very blatant or something that's clearly there, like a character doing something that is… a character being attracted to another character, and we're exploring romanticism. If they're just completely missing it. We talk about that. Why are you missing it? Is there something you're used to seeing that you're not seeing here? How is history portrayed lovers and friends and history and things like that versus what they're picking up on other times, kids bring it up in areas that even I wasn't expecting to bring it up for. And of course, if kids bring something up, we explore the concept in conversation.

Question: Can you think of an example?

 00:01:22

Romeo and Juliet is one of my favourite ones. Classic kids, love it, especially if you approach in the very humorous way because Shakespeare is hilariously ridiculous. And though they love the Romeo and Juliet aspect, they often zone in on the way Tybalt and Mercutio are very bro-romantic in the way they act, even though they hate each other. They often know that it is almost like an enemies-to-lovers trope in the way that they interact and that it turns out into a tragedy even between them. That they would otherwise have been besties or together in the context, but because of the events of the families, they're also tragically murdered, murdered by each other.

Question: What do parents need to know about how SOGI is addressed in schools?

 00:02:07

I think the biggest thing parents need to know is that it is not something that is taught. It is a resource for teachers to know how to address these subjects when they come up. Not every teacher is knowledgeable of the subject. Not everyone has experienced these things or has a lot of knowledge around these subjects, and they're still going to have students who are part of those communities and parents who may be part of those communities regardless of their experience Things are going to come up in contemporary media because media is changing, is more inclusive. We're seeing these people in the movies and shows and books that we are reading so teachers have to have a resource to reach into to access that if they're not personally experienced, or, as in the case of a SOGI representative in your school, who do I talk to if I need to deal with this subject in some way? I don't want to hurt someone or be rude or misstep. So, there's someone I can go to. Or there's a website I can go to that gives information and at the end of the day, that really is all SOGI is, a resource for teachers to reach into on this topic if they aren't sure what to do.

Question: Where do you find these resources?

 00:03:20

The SOGI 123 website would be the resource, or every school is supposed to have a SOGI Rep which is the SOGI 123 representative within that school that you reach to when in need.

Question: What are some of the fears of SOGI-focused education that you have heard?

 00:03:35

Lots of misinformation, everything from the extremes like groomers and things like that, which of course is a long-standing use to marginalized, demoralize and attack individuals. All the way to you're trying to teach my kid to be like this, and at the end of that, of course, you can't make someone anything that they're not. This is not a teaching kids that they are something or are not something. It is that if a kid feels that they are expressing something, or they don't understand what's going on with their feelings. As they come into maturity, these are resources to help them put words to the complex feelings of developing into adults, exploring the self, making sense of the world around them. And I think that's where things get mixed is that no one is trying to make a kid anything other than a functional, healthy adult and that sometimes for some people, that includes being part of the LGBTQ community.

Question: What is the purpose of teaching about SOGI, as you see it?

00:04:36

The point of teaching is to prepare people to exist in the in the world collectively well-informed and functional adults to whatever that means for the individual. And queer folk exists. The community exists. People come in all shapes and sizes and complexities, personal identities, et cetera. Expressions. If you can go into the world without that knowledge. You're going to actively struggle. Because you are going to meet people that are not like you or are actually like you when you've not been used to that. If you aren't equipped to walk in a complex world that we live in that where we're shrinking constantly with technology, it's going to be more of a struggle than an easy time. And we want to equip people as best as possible.

Question: How have your personal experiences informed your view of SOGI?

00:05:22

That every time you learn something, you more so learn how little you know. That human existence, identity is so deeply complex an individual that no amount of learning could ever prepare you for every person you're going to meet, and every aspect of that and people are going to people are going to explore no matter what you do. People are going to try things out. Kids love to put on hats to try out a new thing. I love when kids all of a sudden show up one day and they're just punked out, out of nowhere. I've never seen this kid punked out before, and suddenly they've got a denim vest and spikes in the same way they're trying on that hat to see how they feel. Expression of self is a human thing, and so my experiences of not really being able to do that as a young person now as an adult who is comfortable in who they are, I get to express myself in dozens of ways that bring me joy, make me feel whole as a person, and have actively made me a more effective teacher. Because one of the things a lot of my, I say I work at an art school, so I have a lot of quirky out there, kids that are just wild and they love the fact that they can see someone who's older, professional, married and happy. That there is a future for the weirdos, so to speak out there, and that my experiences very much informed that I would have loved to have met someone like me, to show me that I was allowed to be who I was at a much younger age than when I came to that knowledge myself. My experiences show me that I can be there for those kids and support them.

Question: Is there anything else you would like to share?

00:07:02

You deserve to feel whole and complete in your body. That is a human, a human right that we deserve to feel.