Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. -Nelson Mandela
UOTeachOUT
By Becca Cloe My final term as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon was filled with life changing experiences due to my participating in the UOTeach OUT public pedagogy project.
Through this project I was able to connect what I was reading about in my equal opportunity Homophobia class to the lived experiences of local youth in schools.
I participated in the planning and execution of the BBQueer fundraising and awareness- raising event, the Pink Prom for high school students, and the Youth Leadership Summit for middle and high school students in GSAs. These three events were joyful, eye opening, and gave me real perspective around issues LGBTQ youth face and what can be done to make it better now.
What I learned about most through my participation in UOTeach OUT was critical curriculum and the oppression that is experienced by LGBTQ youth in schools. Critical curriculum, or critical pedagogy, as described by Kevin Kumashiro (2002)
“…involves both the critique and transformation of structural oppression (Giroux & McLaren, 1989). Knowledge about oppression is but the first step of a larger process. Also necessary are thinking skills that students can use to formulate effective plans of action”(p.46; emphasis in original).


“…teaching about the Other often positions the Other as the expert, as in the case when students of color are asked to explain the African American or some other “minority” perspective (Fuss, 1989; hooks, 1994). Such a situation reinforces the social, cultural, and even intellectual space or division between the norm and theOther”(p.42).
“Preparing teachers and school leaders to be advocates for all students means working against those prejudices that circulate widely and, further, making sure that school personnel learn about the ways schools as institutions exacerbate already existing divisions and biases. Because schools do more than teach basic subjects but also teach students how to become members of communities and part of the progress of the nation and the world, teachers, school leaders, school staff, and counselors all need to be prepared to work with diverse learners, community members, and parents, and to advocate for the equitable learning of all students”(p.14)”.
“At River High masculinity was established through gendered rituals of touch involving boys’ physical dominance and girls’ submission”(p.96). In more detail, “The flirtatious physical interactions escalated, becoming increasingly violent, until a girl squealed, cried, or just gave up. This sort of daily drama physically engendered meanings of power in which boys were confirmed as powerful and girls as weak”(p.98).
Pink Prom
By: Kayla Summers What is Pink Prom? It’s a prom, an all-inclusive prom mainly attended by LGBTQ youth. Why is there a Pink Prom? Because there are students who feel uncomfortable or scared attending the prom that is put on by their high school. The goal of Pink Prom is to allow those students who for whatever reason do not want to attend their high school’s prom, can have a prom where they feel they can express themselves, feel safe, and have the prom experience that so many high school students dream of having.
I was part of most of the process of making this a successful event. I was there from set up, all the way to clean up. As a chaperone during the dance, I was able to see all the students having agreat time. Everyone seemed so happy. And the outfits were amazing! Some had prom gowns,some were casual, and some were just creative and colorful. I was very clear that the students who came weren’t hiding themselves under fake clothes, they were all being themselves. Like any prom, tears and fighting will occur amongst couples and friends; if there is no drama, it’s not a successful prom. There was even more people on the dance floor than there was at my own prom.
As much fun as this event was, the best part of the entire event occurred before, during, and after: telling people in the community what it was and why it was happening. Of course I told allof my friends and coworkers that I was going to prom. It sounds funny, “I’m going to prom again!” I’m graduating college, college graduates don’t go to prom. Naturally I explained what Pink Prom was. The day after, everyone asked me how it was. At the prom, a group of us greeted the students as they went in (with cheers, “whoo’s”, and clapping). Having this at the Hilton,there are going to be other people coming and going. Many guests asked us what was going, and we informed them, most have very positive reactions. Being able to educate the community was very empowering. In classes we are taught that schools need to be part of a community. In order to be part of a community, everyone needs to know what is going on, educating them is the first step.
I’m so grateful I got to be a part of this event. I loved seeing the students having a blast. I’m honored that I got to be part of the crew that put those smiling faces on. We all worked hard to make this a success, and I’d say we pulled it off. Yes, we danced, we rocked out, we bonded, and we had the best prom ever! Because of this we are now great friends and have created a community of future teachers who are ready to jump into the world and empower the future to make a change and create a better world.
Ally is a Verb
Written by Hayley Hanson
I am here
Standing next to you
Neither behind nor in front
For an ally is an activist
Ally is a verb
I hear the talk
Both truths and lies
I stand up and speak what I know
For an ally is an activist
Ally is a verb
I cannot fully understand
The pain you have carried and endured
But I will never shy away from my responsibilities
For an ally is an activist
Ally is a verb
Ally is not a shield
Ally is a sword
Piercing through the darkness of discrimination
To seek the light of knowledge and acceptance
For an ally is an activist
Ally is a verb
The Event is just the Start

One of the poster had a drawing of two presumably men kissing and a group of students took issue with this. By the end of the next day the heads of these kissing people were literally cut off. This, to me, seems very symbolic to how heteronormativity is all that is acceptable in schools.
Bow and Arrow
Written by Hayley Hanson
Being an ally is to be a bow
It could be something great
But lacks the power to do great
Being an activist is to be an arrow
It could be something great
But lacks the momentum to be great
Apart they are just things, words
Together they are a weapon
Together they are action with a cause
I decided to write these poems about being an ally because I was really affected by C.J. Pascoe’s critique of the term “ally”. I’ve written about his a lot in some of my field journals but I can’t really get passed it. As an educator it’s really important to see myself as an ally to all of my students, no matter how they identify. I don’t want to be passive and ignore the realities many students go through. I want to be an active ally that stands by her students and reaches out into the community. This is why I chose the picture of the Pink Prom because as an ally I helped to create this beautiful event for the LGBTQ youth in the Eugene area.
I didn’t just take the homophobia class to read literature and stay in the classroom, I took this class in order to go out into the community and walk the walk of an ally. – Hayley (2015)