Children build schemas constantly that provide them with the information they need to decipher the world around them. Their families, communities, and classrooms all influence how they interpret the world. Gender identity and how they view sexual orientation are two areas that are always hot topics in the early childhood field.
When in comes to the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families I think if that represents the culture of one or more of the children in the classroom it is important that it is represented in the literature in the classroom. As in the media segment, in my classroom we begin the year with a home visit where we make family scrapbook pages. These pages are placed in a area of honor that children often refer back to. This year I had a same-sex couple that had a child in my class, so of course their family picture included two moms. It was posted, and we had other children's books that represented this type of family. It was never an issue. Children asked questions sometimes, but our staff and the child just answered their questions. It was a simple as that. We talked about our families and their similarities and differences. However, had we left the books that had same-sex families we would have alienated the family, and caused a lot more biases to form. So, if it represents the culture of a family in your class, or if children have questions about same-sex couples I do believe the literature should be available.
If a parent/family asked me to ensure that their child was not cared for by anyone that was perceived or self-reported to be homosexual or transgender I would begin with a discussion. I would ask why. I would respect their opinion, even if it was misinformed, and then present my opinion on the situation. I believe in all of my staff, they have passed all background checks necessary, and are highly qualified. I would then tell them if they do not feel comfortable with their child being in our care due to a staff member being homosexual or transgender that I would refer them to some other exemplary programs that their family may feel more comfortable with.
