With same-sex marriage taking center stage in the nation's discussion on the basic civil rights of lesbians and gays, The Center on Halsted, with sponsorship from the IMPACT Program at Northwestern University and the Southern Poverty Law Center ( SPLC ), recently presented the forum "Anti-LGBT Youth Bias in the Deep South and Rural America."
Alesdair Ittelson, an attorney and a gender-variant individual, spoke on behalf of SPLC and the unique situation that underserved and underrepresented LGBT youth deal with on a daily basis in the Deep South and in other parts of rural America. Ittleson stressed the importance of those discrete needs of LGBT youth in school, in juvenile justice systems, in healthcare facilities and in penal institutions that many city dwellers may take for granted.
Ittleson pointed to some statistics, which he noted were only some indication of the bias these rural youth must shield. For example, eight out of ten students are bullied because of their sexual orientation. In addition, three out of five students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and a full third of students have missed school because they were afraid to attend school.
Ittlseon stressed that people in major metropolitan areas, like Chicago, offer support that is not found in the rural South or even in larger Southern cities like Montgomery, Ala. He stated that even to have a teacher come out in favor of LGBT youth could result in a teacher being pressured on the school grounds.
"While marriage is an important issue, if our youth cannot attend school, you have a compound problem," said Ittleson. He discussed that despite the South's history of discrimination and intolerance there are ways to speak with those who do not know or perhaps do not understand what it means to be gay, what it means to be lesbian, what it means to be gender variant. Ittlseon said the importance in recognizing the unique needs of a Southern population and maintaining "cultural competence." This can be a move as small and as subtle as teaching an entire school of teachers what "LGBT" means.
Ittleson offers training programs to schools and detention facilities all over Alabama providing tools for educators, administrators and guards to both understand what is meant by sexual orientation and how that interfaces with subjects like gender identity, gender expression and biological sex. Ittleson illustrated this point by positing hypothetical individuals who can have any range of the four sexual orientation and gender variant characteristics. "It is important to never make assumptions," Ittelson said.
Also, Ittelson gave examples of his work that ranged from responding to insular emergencies, such as a gender-variant woman placed in an all-male ward of a psychiatric hospital, despite her own threats of self-harm to holding those in power accountable for their words and actions. Ittelson briefly mentioned a case she has just taken up of a young lesbian whose own principal said that he did not "want a dyke" in his school.
Ittelson also discussed what was described as a tremendous amount of work that must be done to ensure that equality comes to those most negatively affected. One example involved the disparity in psychological care, with Ittelson saying that not only is mental health care less available to everyone in the Deep South, but that those who identify as LGBT have considerable difficulty in finding a facility or a counselor that understands their situation.
Additionally, Ittelson pointed to an issue that even here in Chicago we can understand: race and class. While some of the poorest of the poor live in rural United States, Ittelson pointed out that even in areas like Chicago, race and class can inhibit access to proper mental health care.
Ittelson urged those who are fighting against bias and discrimination in places like the Deep South to always respond to the challenge: "It is best to begin your response from a place of humility."
For more information in the IMPACT Program, visit www.impactprogram.org . For further information on SPLC's work, visit www.splcenter.org .
