Presentation went OK

Had my presentation tonight in that class I had the stink with the professor about. She basically let her views of homosexuality be known. She believed hypnotism could cure homosexuality. She gave me pamphlets for her hypnosis business rather than let me talk about the effects of homosexuality/lack of sexual identity knowledge on kids. Many issues with how the professor handled- conflict of interest, lack of professionalism, not making me, the student feel safe in the classroom.

Well, I fought and won. The professor had new Powerpoints created by another teacher who taught this course. I requested that there be someone else in the room to monitor tonight because the topic was sexuality, her views may get in the way, and so someone was there.

There were a couple of moments where I almost cringed. The new Powerpoints mention nothing about sexuality. They were instead about good hygiene because that was a small section of the sexuality chapter. I guess she decided to skip it all together because she couldn't get her views/promote her business. There was a girl who asked a question about homosexuality and if it was environment. The professor said it could be many things like environment, and she briefly explained the ideas. The monitor did stand up a few times when she did almost tread off topic. She had a new tone about homosexuality, and that was "it is what it is."

My presentation was on the importance of educators knowing about sexuality and how to handle it in their classroom. I gave statistics like dropout rates for homosexuals, bullying, and things like that. Let's just say my teacher is a great example why i chose the topic I did.
- 26% of bullying done in the high school level is gay bullying
- gay students are 2/3 more likely than a straight student to commit suicide
- 30% of suicides are related to students struggling with their sexuality
- Every school shooting that has occurred in the US involves a student who was teased over their sexuality (Including Columbine!)
- 97% of students have heard the word gay, queer, faggot, etc. in school according to surveys
- 48% of students do not know where there teacher stands on homosexuality, and if they want to, do not feel comfortable talking with them
So basically I was advocating we train teachers so they know how to deal with these students. We need to watch our language, not toss around the word gay, etc.
That's what the issue was over... my professor was telling me to come out, it wasn't a big deal, I need to be hypnotized. Um. no.

So I got up and gave my presentation and I seriously kicked ass. This was probably 1 of my best presentations I've given. I was so prepared. I had lots to talk about. I had a few Keywords to talk about on my slides, but the majority came from my mind. I had the eye contact, everything. The professor had not one negative critique like she did for other students, like "you didn't cite sources," "you recited the book," "you just have ideas." I had everything, laid it out, and she just said it is important that we educate our kids so bad things can't happen like they can't die of suicide from being depressed.

At the end the professor told me I did a great job- whether it was sincere or not can be debated. We'll see when I get my grade... haha. It didn't seem the professor was sincere, but a few other students said they "had no clue," and their comments seemed genuine.