Policy and Acts in Rhode Island Addressing the Status of Gender

This week in FNED 246 I was able to read the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and watch Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC. 

    Every child should be able to express themselves in their own way. In Woke Kindergarten by Ki, they are reading a book called They, She, He Easy as ABC, author Maya Gonzalez. The book lists children's names from A-Z, pronounces what the child loves to do, and introduces pronouns to the viewers listening to the book. Ki uses a certain tone and gives breaks while reading the book to keep the audience invested and engaged. After reading each page, Ki would go over each page and explain what was happening on the page. 

"Cory leaps high like a cat. She springs and leaps and bounds.

Diego drums and dances. Tree has all the sounds"(They, She, He Easy as ABC).

This book talks about different pronouns and names that the children in the book go by and how they like to express themself. In the quote above, Cory goes by she/her pronouns and Diego likes to be called Tree instead of Diego. Each child on the pages is dancing showing that they are happy to be themselves. As future teachers, the students need to have a welcoming and supportive environment to create bonds for when your students want to open up about what they like and dislike. 

    The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides people in the LGBT community with a secure and safe education. For students to succeed they need to be encouraged and supported to grow throughout their educational years.

1. "Growing UP LGBT in America, found that 42% of gender non-conforming youth report frequently or often being called names and 40% reported being frequently or often excluded. Further, over half of gender nonconforming youth reported that they did not participate in activities offered by the school out of fear of discrimination"(Page 1).

2. "Federal and State laws provide a legal framework to guide school policies and practices related to 

discrimination based on sex, gender identity and gender expression"(Page 1).

3. "Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender 

identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity and OCR 

accepts such complaints for investigation. Similarly, the actual or perceived sexual 

orientation or gender identity of the parties does not change a school’s obligation. Indeed, 

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth report high rates of sexual harassment and 

sexual violence. A school should investigate and resolve allegations of sexual violence 

regarding LGBT students using the same procedures and standards that it uses in all 

complaints involving sexual violence"(Page 2).