ABSTRACT
This podcast examines the religious (specifically Christian) context of Williamsburg prior to 2011 and how some organizations in the city viewed LGBTQ individuals. With there still being a lack of knowledge surrounding the LGBTQ community nationwide, I hope to bring to light how some young students in the community were treated prior to 2011. I include two oral histories, conducted in 2011, of former students of the Williamsburg and James City County Public Schools to provide the student perspective on this topic. I also include a former minister of the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists and a former youth pastor from the Williamsburg Calvary Chapel to give more context to the divide between liberal-oriented faith organizations and scripture-based Christian churches in the city. After looking at the topic from a Williamsburg and Virginia perspective, I also look at discrimination towards LGBTQ students on a nationwide level. By using GLSEN’s school climate survey from 2017, I try to connect the perspectives prior to 2011 to more recent times.
TRANSCRIPT
Alex Carr-Goodwin (00:00-00:36): “At this particular point in history, many religious individuals and institutions continue to openly express their intolerance of b/g/l/t persons and to support exclusionary and even violent behavior toward them. We wish to declare ourselves to be different: to be intentionally affirming and actively supportive of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identifications as they seek a spiritual haven to search for truth and meaning.”
Flag sound (00:37-00:40)
Alex Carr-Goodwin (00:41-1:10): The Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists passed that resolution in 2007. According to their webpage: "people of all races, backgrounds, political orientation, walks of life, gender, and sexual orientations are embraced at WUU. In this nurturing environment, we seek personal spiritual growth while working to build a better world."
Flag sound (1:11-1:14)
Alex Carr-Goodwin (1:15-2:08): While home to Colonial Williamsburg, William & Mary, and Busch Gardens, Williamsburg is also home to a variety of religious and spiritual organizations. My name is Alex Carr-Goodwin and today I'm going to talk about how religious conservatism, specifically in some forms of Christianity, can play a role in the treatment of LGBTQ students in the Williamsburg and James City County public schools. As a student in the LGBTQ community, I am especially aware of how discrimination can affect individuals that also identify within the community. In this podcast, I specifically look at interviews from 2011, but I will connect this to more recent and current standards in the U.S as a whole.
Church bells (2:09-2:13)
Rev. Jennifer Ryu (2:14-2:42): There’s nowhere else that’s actively spouting hateful messages and getting away with it. It’s just amazing to me that a preacher can stand up on a sunday morning and talk hatefully about a group of people. And I know it’s happening in Williamsburg and I know it’s happening in Hampton Roads and it’s got to stop.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (2:43-2:51): That was Reverend Jennifer Ryu who is now a former minister for Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists.
Keith Grant (2:52-3:17): I believe what the Bible says about homosexuality, but I believe a lot of times the way it is taught or the way it is brought forth it leads to more of a division than to a understanding. I think even though we might not agree on certain subjects, you know especially when it comes to homosexuality or any other thing that Christians might consider sin, it doesn’t mean that we can’t get along in some way, shape or form.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (3:18-3:47): That was Keith Grant, a former youth pastor at the Williamsburg Calvary Chapel.
While each person’s faith, or lack thereof, can have an impact on their own views of the world, discriminatory rhetoric combined with the fact that Virginia does not require an inclusive LGBTQ curriculum in public schools can lead to the mistreatment of young LGBTQ students.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (3:48-4:49): The GLSEN, an advocacy network for LGBTQ youth, released a National School Climate Survey in 2017. This survey found that LGBTQ students in schools with an inclusive curriculum were “less likely to feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation and gender expression.”
According to a Time article, only 5 states in the U.S including California, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, and Ilinois currently require LGBTQ history to be taught in schools.
The GLSEN also provides a 2017 snapshot of the school climate here in Virginia. While the next few clips feature first-hand accounts of discrimination within the WJCC schools, these are from prior to 2011.
Grant Hudson (4:50-6:07): The last year, my senior year of high school, we were doing Day of Silence and it was the weekend before the Day of Silence. Day of Silence was on a monday, I believe. And there was a small group of teachers and a small group of people in the community who were threatening her saying if you allow this day of silence to go on in this high school, we will have anti-gay rallies outside of your school. All day long. Which they’re not allowed to do that in a public area. In a public education area that is a zone that you’re not supposed to be doing that in, but she said “because I’m allowing you to do Day of Silence, I have to let them do this.” Because the whole message of the Day of Silence was anti-bullying, anti-discrimination. Even if you don’t agree with people being gay, respect them and not bully them in school. It wasn’t saying: “you have to accept us being gay”. It wasn’t saying: “we’re queer and we’re going to make you queer.” It was us saying: “look, we might have a difference on that, but there’s no reason there should be this bullying and this violence going on toward us.” There should be none of it in this school.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (6:08-6:30): That was Grant Hudson, who spoke of his experience at Warhill High School in Williamsburg. According to GLSEN, the Day of Silence that he mentioned has occurred nationwide every April since the mid-90s as a means of protesting LGBTQ discrimination in schools.
Camilla Hill (6:31-7:39): No, definitely not. Definitely not. Most I would say are not. My church is very accepting. You know, the Temple Beth El is a big supporter but you know they even outwardly won’t profess that LGBT people need rights. When we were working on the Marshall-Newman Amendment, a big issue was a lot of the Temple Beth El people wanted Temple Beth El to come out and say: “this is wrong and our faith is that God loves all.” And they worked extensively, a lot of people worked very extensively with the Unitarian church, but the
church itself well I mean the temple itself wouldn’t say outwardly: “this is wrong”. And they wouldn’t make a statement as a church I mean well as a community of faith.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (7:40-8:08): That was Camilla Hill who was a former student at Jamestown High School in Williamsburg. She discussed the Temple Beth El which is a Jewish synagogue in Williamsburg. While my podcast mainly considered discriminatory rhetoric from the Christianity perspective, I think it is important to also note how other faith communites might view the LGBTQ community.
Alex Carr-Goodwin (8:09-8:29): According to an article by the Washington Post, Virginia is currently set to be the first southern state to pass anti-LGBT discrimination laws. What this means for the future of LGBTQ students is yet to be seen, but there’s hope for more respect towards this community of individuals.
WORKS CITED
GLSEN. n.d. “Day of Silence.” Accessed May 8, 2020.
https://www.glsen.org/day-of-silence
Grant, Keith. 2011. Interview by Toby Harbison. Williamsburg Documentary Project, April 8, 2011. Audio. http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.wm.edu/10288/13800
Hill, Camilla. 2011. Interview by Toby Harbison. Williamsburg Documentary Project, March 30, 2011. Audio. http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.wm.edu/10288/13808
Hudson, Grant. 2011. Interview by Toby Harbison. Williamsburg Documentary Project, April 9, 2011. Audio. http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.wm.edu/10288/13810
Kosciw, Joseph G, Emily A. Greytak, Adrian D. Zongrone, Caitlin M. Clark, Nhan L. Truong. 2018. “The 2017 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation’s schools.” New York: GLSEN, 2018. https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/GLSEN-2017-National-School-C limate-Survey-NSCS-Full-Report.pdf
Ryu, Jennifer. 2011. Interview by Toby Harbison. Williamsburg Documentary Project, March 26, 2011. Audio. http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.wm.edu/10288/13820
Waxman, Olivia B. 2019. “As More States Require Schools to Teach LGBTQ History, Resources for Teachers Expand” Time, December 13, 2019. https://time.com/5747670/lgbtq-history-resources/
Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists. n.d. “Home - Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists.” https://wuu.org/
Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists. n.d. “Welcoming Congregations Resolution.” https://wuu.org/social-justice/get-involved/welcoming-congregations/welcoming-c ongregation/
Vozzella, Laura. 2020. “Virginia Poised to become first Southern state banning LGBT discrimination.” The Washington Post, February 6, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-poised-to-approve-sweep ing-lgbt-rights-measures/2020/02/06/2053a190-48f8-11ea-bdbf-1dfb23249293_st ory.html