Leading Question: Should we include LGBTQ+ as a subject?

The LGBTQ-inclusive teaching (that is how they call it in the UK) ensures that LGBTQ
children and also young people in general, but particularly the ones with LGBTQ families,
see themselves reflected in what they learn. It would help the young people to grow up with
inclusive and accepting attitudes.

However, some other people argue that this is a waste of time, because in their opinion this
time in the classrooms should be used to what they believe are more important subjects,
such as Mathematics or History and let the families be the ones that educate their children
on these topics.

Back up Questions:

Is inclusive binary or non-binary language necessary? Should pronouns be neutral?

One of the topics related to this, that we are going to debate about, has being arising in the
last decades with the proliferation of “new” sexual identities and orientations that were not
previously as visible as they are these days, and some individuals and groups claim that a
change has to happen, for instance from the sociolingüistic point of view. They say that, for
example, the pronouns should take a different form or simply that we have to create new
ones. However, some other groups and linguists, in particular, are claiming that a language
has to evolve for natural reasons, instead of make those changes “by force” or because of
political reasons. So, the question about if this elements should be neutral or if we should let
them evolve naturally, or simply if it is necessary or not, is out there these days.

Is same sex marriage good for the LGBTQ+ movement?

Another of the topics the same-sex marriage has always been a controversial one ;
especially in recent decades, not only because there are individuals, groups, institutions or
even certain societies and nations that are totally against it, but also because we have
people amongst the LGTBQ communities that are not comfortable with the idea... or, in
those cases in which that law would had been already passed in their countries or states,
they are not fully satisfied with the result, for several reasons. So, the question that we have
on the table in these case is to see if you consider the same-sex marriage completely
positive for the LGBTQ movement or not.

Do you agree with giving very young children the right to decide on their own sexual
identity?

The last topic that we are about to discuss is a very sensitive and complex one. Because we
are going to talk about minors, about underage people (children and teenagers, basically).
The most common fact is to discuss about those transgender children and teenagers, but as
I said before it is more complex than that, because sometimes we forget that it is not only
about gender reassignment, but also about the very young people who does not feel
themselves identified neither as males or females: the so called non-binary. Then, from that
big complexity, the debate around giving those minors the possibility to decide on their
sexual identity is what we are being talking about.
WRAP-UP

So as you have seen, there are still some critical points here that need to be solved, like for
instance when I think it was Manon who said that teachers should be open minded, and this
should be some kind of a prerequesite, because we still have some people, teachers, to be
more specific, who are homophobic or transphobic. Some others said that it would be an
indoctrination coming from the Government, that could go against parents beliefs or the
moral values of the family…

Apparently, the topic related to the inclusive language, evolved around mainly on the fact
that it is being forced into society and it has a similarity with the previous one in some
opinions that were thrown in the debate, like the fact that it could be interpreted as a sign of
authoritarianism, and that was actually used by many people in the debate .

The same-sex marriage topic was around not only about the fact of giving the same rights to
everybody, but also about the fact that some people among the LGBTQ community are not
comfortable with how the things around this insitution, the marriage, have been evolving, and
as it was written by Hugh Ryan, they are losing some of the customs, the let’s call them
those underground traditions that they previously had, before the time when this law was
passed in some countries or states and becoming more and more into the mainstream
system, if you want to call it that way.

And I think it was pretty clear that the most difficult topic to discuss about was the last one:
some people argued about the irreversible nature of the process known as “transition” if we
talk about transgenders, based on the maturity of the individual. Some others like Christian
or Alessandra said that that freedom of choice should be completely legal for everyone who
wants to do what they want about their identity, despite their age.

As a conclusion, and by the opinions given, we can say that a big part of the society is
moving forward, step by step, into a more inclusive and accepting one, where everybody can
feel comfortable with themselves while being respected by the rest of that society… but we
still have a lot of work to do in many areas, in order to reach the goal of having a society
based on equality.