School celebrated a Muslim LGBT activist on International Women’s day!

[Threemangoes]

AIBU to be annoyed at the school? I’m baffled as why have the school missed an opportunity here. They already celebrate lgbt history month and then pride in June at school.

Why is this issue that affects a very tiny minority is so heavily influenced in children’s curriculum?

Why? It's enlightening.
You shouldn't be able to just take threads down because you don't like the answers you're getting

You clearly want me to imply that but no! You are making assumptions here.

Well, what type of woman do we need to raise awareness and celebrate then? As you haven't actually said

So you're angry that the school celebrated a woman who had faced adversity and challenges on a day that recognises women?

What does her sexuality have to do with it?

It’s not because of that at all, I just think it’s a bit embarrassing..

@Threemangoes

No but you have pretty much said LGBT people should only be talked about on those months completely missing the point that LGBT folks are humans who actually appear in all aspects of society just like straight people do and so them being parts of a bunch of intersectional topics isn’t any weirder or more promoting of anything than when schools go on to pick a straight scientist for science day, a straight historical figure on history day, a straight character on world book day, etc…

so my question to you is why you feel schools have missed an opportunity this year when they have picked a Muslim lesbian woman but not other years when they picked a straight woman as an inspiration?

and should women rights following your logic only be discussed only on March 8th and not the rest of the year as apparently some topics and level of discrimination should only be pointed out and denounced on specific calendar dates and be buried the rest of the years as to not take too much space and inconvenience others?

Because they could have picked a Muslim activist that's against child marriages, forced marriages, child labour.
Someone who advocated for access and permission to education for girls. Advocate for financial independence in Muslim girls.
I could go on. Real issues that are affecting majority of Muslim women in this day and age in Britain.

Our children need a wide variety of exposure to all issues and problems in the world. Not just lgbt believe it or not.

You can educate your children on these issues too, it’s not just the school's job.

What's embarrassing?

I see your point. Your issue isnt that she's gay. It's that I she's an advocate of the lgbt+ when it seems like there are plenty of those and there are lots of very dire issues to advocate for that are going largely ignored.

Her sexuality was the main focus. She is a lesbian Muslim activist for Muslim lgbt.

Yes. This.

There would be no harm in you making suggestions for women you would like to see honoured next time, but I would suggest that you don't say that you want them because you have had enough of LGBT women. Just say that you want the kids to know about them because they are remarkable.

Yes. This.

I actually do understand what you are trying to say. There a lot of issues facing all women (gay and straight) that have nothing to do with our sexuality. We (gay and straight) are still fighting for equality on many fronts.

It does seem a shame that we only have one day where we are allowed to highlight these issues. Perhaps we should be working together with all women to allow us an entire month to highlight more issues we are still facing.

But a gay Muslim woman is challenging all of this OP! How can you not see this?

a Muslim gay woman when chosing to be out without renouncing her religion is actually saying, I believe in my religion but I also believe in who I love and won’t abide by the societal pressure of my religion to marry a man or to fold to other people’s vision of what my religion is about.

for a Muslim woman to admit she is gay and not be full of shame and to not inherently fight it, it’s her advocating against the mold in which most Muslim women are trapped and stating that you can be Muslim and have faith and still be you and have a voice and have a choice in who you marry and who you love and who you end up with.

it’s a great example of a Muslim woman fighting against forced marriage (in her situation marrying a man to comply with her religion would be forced even if it wasn’t actually forced.)

when a (Muslim) woman breaks the mold she is indirectly asking other women to make their own educated choices about their life and situations and to do what’s best for them not others.

if you can’t see that, do you even grasp intersectionality at all?

that’s why gay rights don’t just promote gay rights. It promotes anti discrimination and anti thinking it’s ever okay to chose for others what’s best of them nor to think it’s ever okay to discriminate or assault someone for being different and all those topics can be found in disability, minority cultural background, other religious backgrounds etc…

again it’s all linked if you promote understanding and kindness you automatically make it more likely for it to expend to other topics and other differences. It’s not by shutting down minority groups that you will positively promote others. You are just acting like some topics and discriminations are more important than others and as if some groups are more or less deserving of understanding and an audience than others which further promotes all that’s wrong in this world.

I appreciate you taking time to write this down and try and explain your pov.

But in your last paragraph you have ruined your effort. I am not saying one issue is more important than the other or that lgbt issues are less deserving.

Lgbt issues are given a lot of time in primary schools. Which is great.

My annoyance is directed at the school for not picking up a different issue on IWD to broaden our children's knowledge.

They focused on sexuality yet again!

Ideally we should stop fighting over one shitty piece of pie. We want the whole pie and a bigger one.

I think you are fighting the wrong battle with the school. Why are they only spending one day educating children on issues that affect women?

I understand what you’re saying. They could have chosen someone like Malala Yousafzi. Very relatable to children.

for gods sake you horrid person stop saying muslim and gay woman. shes a woman.woman.woman. shes a woman. your problem is the very labels you give her(which we all no what you mean and why) she is a woman. nota gay muslim woman.a woman

so maybe the school was just seeing...a woman

Being gay IS a real issue for muslim women, one that has massive repercussions in the Muslim community.
That 1% statistic you quoted upthread, don’t you think that would be higher if more Muslim women could confidently speak about being gay?

The fact this woman has openly spoken of her sexuality, one that would ostracise her from her community, is fantastic and extremely brave of her, and in my opinion, IWD is a perfect opportunity to celebrate that, because she is advocating for all Muslim women.

Hmm I think this would be like if the school had an Achievement Month where they focused on amazing figures throughout history: Da Vinci, Churchill, Byron etc alongside Mary Shelley, Rosalind Franklin, Millicent Fawcett, etc. I think this would be like a man saying "FFS can't they celebrate these women on International Woman's Day and focus on the actual amazing figures like Byron, Churchill, etc".

Anyway, as a Chinese woman, this is genuinely why I'm raising my kids in the country where they fit in with the majority ethnicity! They're normal humans and I want them to be treated like normal humans. If they ever achieve things, I want them to have their achievements celebrated as a normal person would, rather than have people grumble that they're not doing it on Chinese Day or whatever.