Gay teacher and students

With the legacy of section 28 weighing heavy on our shoulders, the prospect of ‘being different’ can evoke a fear of tokenism and prejudice in some and unfounded scrutiny in many. Books that were written by trans people. Her book, aptly entitled Courage in the Classroom (2020), describes meetings with parents and students perpetuated with uncertainty and anxiety, and she goes on to write about colleagues who have avoided promotion for fear that it will provoke more interest in their personal lives as they climb the ladder in schools.

Further, the research on LGBTQ+ teachers suggests they may be an important resource for otherwise marginalized students, and all teachers could benefit from training to help them create supportive learning environments. In fact, a solid majority of parents of school-age kids are also supportive of thoughtful discussions of LGBTQ+ issues in high school classrooms (though only a minority support such conversations among elementary-age students).

As long as I can remember, I knew that I was different.

“There was a level of freedom that really screamed 'queer joy.'”

I had been dating someone who was in that small group from high school. I think that gave me a sense that it was okay to be who I was. Just over half of LGBTQ+ youth report feeling affirmed in school (second only to 68% feeling affirmed in online spaces), which leaves plenty of room for schools to make more students feel welcome.

Below is some guidance from the NEU (2022) based on what works in schools where LGBT+ staff feel particularly comfortable, and serves as a practical checklist moving forwards:

• Challenge heteronormativity, as well as homophobia, and publicly recognise that silence around LGBT+ people is contrary to the values of an inclusive education
• Review the curriculum to ensure that the representations of LGBT+ individuals are not tokenistic and that lessons usualise the everyday existence of LGBT+ people
• Review dress codes to ensure that these do not reinforce gender stereotypes
• Consider how language is used across the school and the extent to which it is gender-neutral
• Reinforce the idea that there is no need to ‘come out’, as all types of relationships are represented in the narrative
• Encourage staff to act in partnership with LGBT+ communities and consider a trust or school network to encourage a sense of belonging and community
• Conduct an attitude survey to monitor the effectiveness of relevant policies
• Include LGBT+ training as part of the CPD (continuing professional development) programme
• Ensure that the library offer is LGBT+ inclusive 
• Continue to celebrate diversity with Pride and LGBT+ History Month – include everyone.

Conclusions

The goal for all schools is to foster a culture where sharing’s one identity as an LGBT+ teacher is as unremarkable as having worked in London or owning a dog.

So I explained to her, I had developed really close friendships with people. Unsurprisingly, LGBTQ+ teachers are more likely than non-LGBTQ+ teachers to report engaging in affirming and inclusive practices in schools, including practices like informally discussing LGBTQ+ topics with students or serving as an advisor to a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar student club.

More than anything, they were able to understand me in maybe a way that that high school teacher just couldn’t.

Sexual orientation (including lesbian, gay, or bisexual; hereafter LGB) has been available in the public-use version of the NHIS data since 2015. It was like, “Okay, right? Yet, according to GLSEN, most teachers do not feel confident about respectfully engaging with LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom; when teachers have received explicit training about such issues, most was related to discussing diverse family structures only and not about LGBTQ+ history or contemporary issues.

Critically, teachers do not have to be LGBTQ+ to create a supportive learning environment.

We know that LGBT+ colleagues want to be ‘out’ in the classroom and lean into their authentic personas. Thus, our estimates of the share of LGB among teachers should be considered a conservative estimate of the overall share of LGBTQ+ teachers. There were other gay students who were in my class. It’s really thinking about why it was important that their story be told.

There was a moment where a student came out to me.

This realisation will continue to require a huge investment from headteachers and their teams.

When I graduated from, or was about to graduate from high school, I knew that I wanted a very different experience. A less prominent, though just as important, Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. In the six weeks since his inauguration, Trump has issuedmultipleexecutive ordersaffecting students and young people in pursuit of his agenda.