Teacher: I Was Fired for Beg Gay. Now It Can't Happen to Anyone Else (Opn)

Contents:

• ‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT
• ‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO THE GAY ONE’: LGBTQ TEACHERS SAY THEY ARE FIGHTG ERASURE THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS
• GAY SUBSTUTE TEACHER SAYS HE WAS FIRED AFTER HANDG OUT PRI BRACELETS TO STUNTS
• GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE
• TEACHER: I WAS FIRED FOR BEG GAY. NOW IT CAN’T HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE
• A TEXAS TEACHER FAC LOSG HER JOB AFTER FIGHTG FOR GAY PRI SYMBOLS SCHOOL
• GAY HIGH SCHOOLER SAYS HE'S 'BEG SILENCED' BY FLORIDA'S LGBTQ LAW
• LGBTQ TEACHERS STGGLE TO NAVIGATE FLORIDA'S SO-CALLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• A TEACHER WAS FIRED FOR DISCSG GAY BEARS WH HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS

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

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 him.Carver, 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 target.He 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 kids.Carver 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 rmatn.When, acrdg to Carver, he and some stunts' parents asked Montgomery County Supertennt Dr. The most noteworthy is Florida's Parental Rights Edutn law, barrg discsn of sexual orientatn or genr inty krgarten through third gra or olr gras where would not be "age-appropriate" or "velopmentally appropriate."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." In his "Edutn Agenda Tour" advance of the Aug.

23 primary, DeSantis, a Republin, ntend the classroom was on the ontl a larger culture war and said was "wrong to ject thgs like sexualy and transgenrism to the classroom."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."But for Carver and others cril of such chang, the new laws nnot help but feel more like a personal attack."There's this systematic targetg of the topic of LGBTQ people, jt like they're havg a systematic targetg of the topic of experienc of different racial and ethnic groups," Amerin Civil Liberti Unn attorney Josh Block told ABC."Focg the attack on public schools is tryg to keep people om beg exposed to ias or experienc that whoever's power don't approve of," Block said.'The msage that this is … shameful'Florida tors like Jonathan Kryk say they are trated that the LGBTQ discsn bill was signed to law over what he scrib as more prsg ncerns for most U.S.

Teachers."This is the exact oppose of what we need," Kryk, a gay fifth-gra teacher outsi of Tampa, told ABC News.

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

Before the bill was passed, some Democrats unsuccsfully attempted to make more specific -- rtrictg stctn on sexual activy rather than orientatn, for example.Even 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 .Washgton, D.C.'s Boswa Shaw said he supports how, his view, the polici draw a clear le for children."The bill might be beneficial -- siar to the separatn of church and state," he told ABC News. 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. He spoke to Edutn Week about teachg as a gay man ral Kentucky—and why recent efforts to rtrict rights for LGBTQ stunts are dangero.

I have always been as gay as anythg uld be, but my first year of teachg [upon the pletn of a master’s gree, 2010], I uldn’t be. I'm a proud gay man, I am the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, and I'm aaid to return to the classroom.

A high school assistant prcipal, Cz has faced cricism om other school admistrators the unty for beg an out gay tor.

GAY SUBSTUTE TEACHER SAYS HE WAS FIRED AFTER HANDG OUT PRI BRACELETS TO STUNTS

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. 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.

GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE

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.

A gay junr high school teacher Missouri rigned after he was orred to take down a Pri flag om his classroom and rea om discsg genr and sexualy issu his Wallis, 22, posted to Twter that he rigned om his posn teachg speech, theater, and world mythology at Neosho Junr High School Neosho after admistrators ma him sign a letter promisg not to discs "human sexualy" or his "own sexualy the classroom and uld have no displays or ursework on those subjects. "A parent lled last week to pla that I was gog to teach their child to be gay, " Wallis wrote to his Twter, addg the prcipal told him hangg a Pri flag was parable to hangg a nferate flag. A gay Oh substute teacher was fired last week after handg out Pri bracelets to high school stunts, the latt example of LGBTQ discsn schools sparkg ntroversy amid heated bat school boards and stat around the untry.

In particular, helped me to velop closer nnectns wh my straight male stunts, the group I feared that my disclosure would prise my relatnship wh the Christian, for example, a quarterback who has often ma sexist and homophobic jok class until I me out. What he appreciated was accs to a safe space and a person wh whom he uld articulate his vulnerabily whout fear of I thk of my cisn, I thk also of stunts like Noah, an MFA fighter trag whom I tght his sophomore year.

TEACHER: I WAS FIRED FOR BEG GAY. NOW IT CAN’T HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE

"It turned out our support system was not a one-way NAGAYOSHI is a 9th- and 10th-gra English teacher southern Massachetts, and a Teach Pl Commonwealth Policy Fellow. 'In & Out' tells the story of a teacher, played superbly by Kev Kle, who, begs to qutn his sexualy after a former stunt mak a ment about him at the Amy Rudnick's Screenplay is funnily, spired by Tom Hanks's speech when he accepted his 1994 Osr for 'Philalphia', which he mentned his high-school drama ach, and his former classmate, to be, two of the ft gay Amerins, he knew.

For Damon Zuima, a former K–8 mic tor, was important for his stunts to know that he is gay and for his admistratn to be supportive of his cisn to share so openly wh his class. When asked if he felt prsure to hi his sexualy to his stunts, Connor Schmidt, a primary school teacher Beijg who is openly gay, shared:.

Jonny Vriema, a physil tn teacher Jacksonville, Florida, who intifi as a gay Christian, fears that his sire to live out his fah and teach wh relig schools will create nflict.

A TEXAS TEACHER FAC LOSG HER JOB AFTER FIGHTG FOR GAY PRI SYMBOLS SCHOOL

Twelve months ago my partner may have been a widower, but stead I’m here as one of the first openly gay Teachers of the Year showg LGBTQ youth they have a future. Mike and I spent four hours on a Saturday — the first gay uple to ri the para — wavg to 400, 000 Portlanrs lg the streets. The viral footage posted Saturday appeared to show an Edison High School teacher playg a vio for stunts that clud a Pri flag and kiss between a gay uple.

There may not yet be te equaly this untry, but we are equal on paper for the very first I was born 1964, Illois was the only state that did not have an anti-sodomy law that crimalized gay relatnships.

GAY HIGH SCHOOLER SAYS HE'S 'BEG SILENCED' BY FLORIDA'S LGBTQ LAW

Shortly after I beme the Oregon State Teacher of the Year 2014, I was fired for not beg able to keep my mouth shut after my school warned me not to say public that I was gay. It might be the only time their K-12 school experience when a stunt se that gay people have normal liv wh dogs and barbecu the backyard.

Take out “gay” and replace wh all the other thgs I am: gger, Irish, a lapsed Catholic, a member sce 1973 wh lifetime standg of the Archie Comics Fan Club.

LGBTQ TEACHERS STGGLE TO NAVIGATE FLORIDA'S SO-CALLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

I’m a lot of thgs, none of which I should have been fired schools eventually reopen, LGBT teachers will walk through those doors for the first time knowg they n no longer be fired for beg gay. One faculty sponsor of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance is facg havg her ntract termated, another is preparg to rign, and a third has been removed om the classroom.

Two teachers said that the school’s prcipal asked teachers to take down gay pri flags their classrooms and offic. Several stunts said that eher they or their classmat have been lled homophobic slurs and bullied, and school staff members have failed to tervene.

THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER

Some said they’re disuraged by the Irvg Inpennt School District’s rponse to the ncerns they’ve raised through the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and school board meetgs, and they feel ls safe at school than they did a year ago. And advot for LGBTQ stunts are alarmed by some parents’ recent mands that schools prohib stunts om anizg Gay-Straight Allianc, llg them “pornographic” and suggtg they would turn children clash at MacArthur, a suburb northwt of Dallas, was not the rult of a new law or policy, or a public prsure mpaign at school board meetgs. “They’re not gog to e out outright and say, ‘Don’t say gay, ’” she said of the school admistratn, “but they’re gog to make as difficult as possible for you to be allowed to exprs yourself or even learn about how you feel, who you are and your inty.

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

” It all started wh teachers postg small rabow stickers — long a symbol of the gay pri movement — outsi their classrooms to show stunts that they were LGBTQ alli.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

Acrdg to her personnel file, which Stonecipher shared wh NBC News, the district’s human rourc office believed that Stonecipher had lled MacArthur’s prcipal “homophobic, ” which Stonecipher ni, and that she ma lleagu unfortable when she shared her opn about LGBTQ issu. A feral judge later tossed the 2018, the district faced cricism om LGBTQ anizatns when a teacher reported that the district banned “Love Is Love, ” a ic book created to support survivors of the mass shootg at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, followg a plat that the book featured “extreme homosexualy. Durg the meetg, stunts scribed stanc which they’d been lled homophobic slurs and been punched by classmat.

"Aly Harb, MacArthur High School sophomore Acrdg to Victor Fsto, the GSA’s print, the equent meetgs draw jt five to 10 stunts.

’” said a transgenr stunt, a sophomore whom NBC News is not intifyg bee they have not e out to their parents. “It jt felt very targeted towards people I knew, like they were tryg to get teachers or stunts trouble, ” said Aly Harb, a sophomore and GSA member, who was also lled for a meetg wh HR district did not rpond to qutns about the meetgs.

A TEACHER WAS FIRED FOR DISCSG GAY BEARS WH HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS

Moricz said he “strongly believ” the requt was rponse to a newly enacted state law, which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Proponents of the measure have ntend that giv parents more discretn over what their children learn school and say LGBTQ issu are “not age appropriate” for young crics have argued that the law uld stifle teachers and stunts om talkg about their inti or their lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer fay members. ”“The reason somethg like the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law seems like nothg but is actually everythg is that when you nnot talk about or share who you are, there is a nstant subnsc affirmatn that you are not valid, that you should not exist, ” Moricz fight agast the legislatn is personal for Moricz, he add.

” This fall is the first school year which teachers and school admistrators mt follow Florida’s HB 1557—lled the “Parental Rights Edutn” statute by lawmakers and dubbed the Don’t Say Gay law by crics—that banned public school districts om teachg about sexual orientatn or genr inty krgarten through the third gra, or “ a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards.