“That’s So Gay” | From a Teacher’s Perspective | Learng for Jtice

‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO THE GAY ONE’: LGBTQ TEACHERS SAY THEY ARE FIGHTG ERASURE THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS
THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER
GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE
‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT
“THAT’S SO GAY” | FROM A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE

‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO THE GAY ONE’: LGBTQ TEACHERS SAY THEY ARE FIGHTG ERASURE THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS

After about a the classroom, he was named the bt tor Kentucky September 2021 -- but at the same time, he said, a small but vol mory his ral town Montgomery County went after, who is gay, told ABC News that he was sgled out for actually protectg LGBTQ kids his school and their fai, which ma him a said that earlier this year, a muny member who was postg about him on social media also repeatedly went to unty school board meetgs to report predatn and so-lled child "groomg" -- a term that has bee popular nservative circl for allegatns of adults sexually manipulatg said this person, who had not named him at the board meetgs but repeatedly referenced him by name onle, also "doxxed" him and some of his stunts on Facebook by sharg their private, acrdg to Carver, he and some stunts' parents asked Montgomery County Supertennt Dr. "Many crics labeled the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights Edutn bill -- which don't specifilly e the word "gay, " though broadly rtricts talk of sexualy and genr -- to law earlier this year rponse to "woke genr iology. "Joshua Block is a staff attorney wh the Natnal ACLU’s Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr & HIV "We need to be teachg them to read or wre, to add, to subtract, " he said -- addg that "the purpose of our schools is to te kids not to doctrate them. "This is the exact oppose of what we need, " Kryk, a gay fifth-gra teacher outsi of Tampa, told ABC News.

THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER

He intifi as gay. Before the bill was passed, some Democrats unsuccsfully attempted to make more specific -- rtrictg stctn on sexual activy rather than orientatn, for though many who spoke wh ABC News said they are disappoted the law's lack of clary, some gay teachers don't see an issue wh .

Pancholy's Stonewall Honor-wng novel "The Bt at It" follows 12-year-old Rahul Kapoor, who is not only figurg out his cultural inty as an Indian-Amerin but is also jt begng to realize that he might be gay. And so what's next: gay marriage? A high school assistant prcipal, Cz has faced cricism om other school admistrators the unty for beg an out gay tor.

But wasn’t until this school year that a parent me to her school’s office and said, referrg to Cz, “I don’t want to talk to the gay one. Florida’s HB 1557, lloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which kickstarted a trend of attempted legislative bans on discsn of LGBTQ topics schools, was expand April to rtrict some discsns of genr inty and sexual orientatn public classrooms om krgarten to 12th gra.

GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE

And though he matas his optimism the classroom wh his young stunts, the realy of beg a gay teacher a polil climate that’s bee creasgly hostile toward LGBTQ people n be much more challengg, even dangero, he said. He’s psed lsons after overhearg a stunt e the term “gay” a pejorative way, takg time to addrs the stunt and their qutns about the word. Last year, after Florida troduced what crics lled s “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn, several other stat followed su and filed siar bills that affect whether teachers n e pronouns or nam stunts ask them to e.

Many ment to thank her for her ndor or wonr how their high school years uld have been different havg an out gay teacher like her. NBC News reported on two teachers Florida and Kentucky, rpectively, the latter of whom was named Kentucky Teacher of the Year 2022, who qu their jobs after some parents and muny members cricized them for beg out gay men and sharg tails about their personal liv wh stunts. Other queer and trans teachers, particularly after Florida passed s “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year, have said they no longer feel supported or mentally healthy enough to ntue teachg, acrdg to reportg om CNN affiliate WPTV.

As a gay teacher who hadn’t e out to his stunts or staff, he felt hamstng.

‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT

In 1978, the state of California proposed a law—a ballot measure wily known as the Briggs Iniative—which would've prohibed openly gay and lbian teachers om workg the state’s public schools. In five stat—Indiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virgia—gay people n get legally married but also legally fired by an employer for beg gay, a Washgton Post map shows. In San Bernado, California, for example, a lbian teacher challenged her school district urt wh help om the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn, allegg that she was fired after attemptg to help the school’s Gay Straight Alliance chapter.