About this Page
Information from this page can found in "Cornell LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Faculty and Staff", from Cornell University.
(Micro)aggressions Experienced by LGBTQ+ Students
(Micro)aggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults — whether intentional or unintentional --that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages and target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.
As a faculty member, you are in a position of power to create classroom norms that counteract such (micro) aggressions and assert they are unacceptable in your classroom.
Common (Micro)aggressions Experienced by LGBTQ+ Students in the Classroom
- Calling on, engaging, and validating one gender while ignoring other students during class.
- Assigning student tasks or roles that reinforce gender stereotypes.
- Anticipating students’ emotional responses based on gender norms or sexual orientation.
- Singling out a student in class because of their identities.
- Expecting students of any particular group to ‘represent’ the perspectives of others during in-class discussions or debates.
- Using heteronormative metaphors or examples in class.
- Assuming the gender of any student.
- Continuing to misuse pronouns even after a student, transgender or not, indicates their pronouns.
