Good for you Trish. I encounter a lot of homophobia in the classroom, including one rather loud young lady who used to delight in righteously shouting out the tired old, "God made Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve," during class whenever she could. I don't shy away from sharing my viewpoint that love is love, and everyone deserves the same rights and protections under the law, and just as no heterosexual person would tolerate someone telling them who to love (and I'm talking consenting adults here, of course), why should it be any different for someone who happens to love someone of the same sex. If my students feel differently, I strongly encourage them to examine the source of their beliefs (family, peers, community) -- a good practice for any issue, naturally -- and whether they're based on prejudice and fear. Many of the students will freely admit they've never really thought about it much. They mostly parrot what they hear around them, to fit in, I think. Books like Michael Cunningham's, The Hours, help us discuss the topic.

In terms of religion, I never tell anyone what to believe or not to believe, but I do raise the issue with students that not everyone shares the same beliefs or interpretations, and religious freedom includes the freedom to disagree or not believe.

To her credit, my "Adam & Steve" student came around to the point where one day she corrected a fellow student who made a derogatory, homophobic comment by turning around in her desk and emphatically telling him, "Hey, love is love." And she remained as devoted to her church as ever. I'm not religious myself, but the two are not mutually exclusive, in my view.

(I'd like to get a class set of Jeanette Winterson's, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, which explores the issue of homosexuality and religion and family conflict/acceptance really well. I figure I'll put a grant up for it on DonorsChoose in the fall. Whenever the topic comes up, I'm always conscious of the fact that within any class, there are several students who are gay, and I like the idea of them hearing at least one positive, supportive voice in their lives in a sea of jokes and criticisms. Some students are open about being gay, though, and are fairly well accepted. In fact, last year's senior class president was openly gay, and very popular with other students, so all is not bleak. The lingering prejudice seems more verbal than action, not that any prejudice should be tolerated.)