I've done it. I've used material with lesbian characters. I've heard the comments. I've felt my face go red. I don't enjoy it. But that's how taboos function. They attach shame and discomfort to topics and thereby prevent certain subjects from gaining any visibility. The prospect of perpetuating the myth that we're all heterosexual here on this planet is distasteful to me. Furthermore, perpetuating myths doesn't serve anyone's education.

Providing images of diversity in sexual orientation plays out as a cycle for me: foray, retreat, another attempt, another retreat. Of the poems, skits, icebreakers, and longer texts I've used, Working Parts has been the most successful. In other words, it has allowed me to break the taboo of mentioning l esbians or homosexuality in the classroom with the least discomfort. It is now my tool of choice for raising the visibility of gay and lesbian issues/themes with no fuss, no mess. Of course, there are many poems, films, short stories, and articles, each of which opens its own world of possibilities. However, Working Parts is my current favorite.

Working Parts
Working Parts is the story of Lori, a lesbian bike mechanic who has a reading problem. All of this is pretty clear by the time the reader has read the back cover and the first full page. (The book at this point holds the possibility that Lori is bisexual, but there no denying that she is attracted to women.) If you read the back, which I do with groups, you also know that this is "a story of personal revolution."

When I've read this book with students, many have been intrigued by the character and storyline. As I wrote in my article for Connections, "Can I Keep This Book?" I read aloud the first few paragraphs and then we talked about the setting-a public library. Lori has a flashback to her days in high school and this description resonates with students who excelled in gym and lunch and laughter and avoided reading and writing. Together we read a little more aloud -- just until Lori winks at the librarian and Lori lets us know, "Women and machinery were my specialties." In every class this got some reaction.

Some students were quick to conclude that Lori must be a lesbian. Of course they didn't say this aloud. "She's a -- you know," was often as close as they got. For most students, this information seemed to build their interest in the book. They began reading independently immediately, getting absorbed in the book and staying that way. In one ABE class, students began identifying with Lori based on the back cover's description. They agreed with their teacher: she's like me, she's smart and she can't read; or she's good with her hands buth she can't read; or she's good with people but she can't read. It was more difficult in this class when students found out Lori "specializes in women." A student verbalized her negative feeling about homosexuality when she got to this line. I said, "Does that change how you feel about Lori?" She said, "A little." I was surprised and pleased that even though her personal views were strong, she could still maintain some openness toward the character.

Matter of Fact
In talking with the author, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, we agreed that audiences respond positively to Lori in part because she is matter-of-fact in her identity. She is not questioning or in crisis. The entire narrative treats Lori's lesbianism in a matter-of-fact way. Particularly in the first chapter, no other characters judge or question Lori's identity. The reader is led to accept the character as a whole and to treat the subject with the same matter-of-fact attitude. I followed the book's lead and steered clear of questions that would put learners on the spot.

For example, questions like, "What do you think? What are synonyms for ______? Have you ever?" when referring to a text with lesbian or gay characters are potentially very loaded questions that can create tense situations in class, often putting students on the spot in ways that are not intended. Many times it is difficult, especially for young adults, but often for older adults as well, to express curiosity or sympathy for lesbian and gay issues without getting labeled. Letting the topic be just part of the landscape enabled students to read on and to learn about the feelings, perspectives, and world of a lesbian character with little risk.

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Teaching Ideas
My protocol for using Working Parts includes:

• Forming predictions based on front cover graphics.
• Careful reading of the back cover.
• Dividing the class into pairs. Each pair lists five facts they know are true about the book or character, and five questions.
• Compiling those lists on the board.
• Reading alound the first seven paragraphs.
• Referring back and answering questions that were generated.
• Discussing the senses Bledsoe includes in her description of the library.
• Allowing time for silent reading of the first chapter.
• Listening to reactions at certain points.
• Distributing choices (from the list below) and GED questions.
• Students choose and work with someone else who makes the same choice. All of the choices encourage students to re-read. Each choice draws on one of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences.

Student Choices

1. Make up ten questions to ask the author.
2. Design a flyer to announce a reading by Lucy Bledsoe. What would you put on it?
3. Act out a part of the first chapter with a partner. You can use words or just act it out.
4. Make a drawing or model of the library and show how it's set up.
5. Go through the first chapter as if you are turning the book into a movie. What background music would you use with the different scenes? Be prepared to explain why.
6. Make a cartoon of the beginning, middle and end of the chapter.
7. Write your own description of a place using all the senses.

GED Questions
1. Which is not true of Lori?
      a) Lori is smart.
      b) Lori has had boyfriends and girlfriends.
      c) Lori thinks learning to read is harder than kissing.
      d) Lori is afraid of books.

2. Which adjectives best describe Lori's behavior with her tutor, Deidre?
      a) Obnoxious and silly.
      b) Rude and uncivil.
      c) Nervous and crazy.
      d) Bored and flirtatious.

3. Which is true about the setting for the first scene of Working Parts?
      a) It is early fall.
      b) The building is a college library.
      c) The book takes place in New York.
      d) The setting changes between a library and a school.
      e) It is the early 20th century.

4. Fix the sentence to make the underlined word make sense.
      a) She can get by because she charismas well.
      b) I made pact with her that neither of us would say anything.
      c) Their dislike mutual makes everyone around them uncomfortable.

Martha Merson is the ABE Specialist at the Adult Literacy Resource Institute. She can be reached at 617-782-8956.