on reading queer studies articles while planning a wedding

I've read a few articles lately for various classes that concern queer studies and its place in the classroom. Most of them were referring to the college composition classroom, but these ideas apply to younger grades as well.

The basic premise is that being anti-homophobia and LBGTQQ-inclusive is not enough in the classroom. By simply speaking out against the marginalization of LGBTQQ people, we are neglecting to examine how this oppressive discourse has affected everyone, including non-LGBTQQ people. Queerness in the classroom should also analyze how our society's oppression has shaped the identities of heterosexual people, which will hopefully lead to reconstructed notions of our identities and the heteronormative/heterosexist language we use.

Of course, the articles present many more nuances and issues that than, but that's the big idea that I took away. The first question that comes to mind when considering this is, what will this look like in my classroom? I struggled a lot when teaching at Rudy with issues of homophobia in the classroom. I was just barely scratching the surface of the first method that these articles mention (anti-homphobia in the classroom) and not even coming close to the second (analysis of how LGBT "othering" has affecting everyone's identities). At first, I was thinking that these practices needed to be implemented sequentially -- but now, I'm wondering if the second method could actually be used in order to shed light on the first; that is, if students consider how society's discourse around LGBT issues has defined their worldview, perhaps they would become less homophobic (although obviously, not all students are homophobic).

The second question I'm pondering is how can my wedding resist heteronormative discourse? It's tricky: I'm a chick marrying a dude. We have chosen to get married even though gay marriage is not legal in Illinois, a decision that I am not entirely comfortable with. We are going to be performing a lot of traditionally gendered activities. We're getting married by a Catholic priest (also he, himself, is not homophobic). To counter all this, I'm trying to use vendors that make their anti-homophobic views visible (for example, I'm STILL searching for a photographer who has pictures of a gay wedding up on their site). But it doesn't feel like enough. I guess it's far too much (and a bit ridiculous) to want my wedding to make people examine their identities as constructs of our heteronormative, oppressive society.



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