“Wow, you remember Obergefell?”
Younger students at my school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) last year were in awe of their older peers who remembered the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that affirmed that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all fifty states.
Like many of us, today I’m scared about all the anti-LGBTQ legislation we’re seeing at the federal level. But I have to remind myself that we’re also teaching an entire generation of students who have always lived in a country where gay marriage is legal. For them, queer people having more of the same basic human rights is a given.
Still, this is a terrifying time to be a queer person in any job. And with the level of hostility educators are facing from extremist groups, this is an especially scary time to be a queer educator. It would be a lot easier right now to remove any photos of ourselves with spouses from our teacher desks, take down the “Everyone is Welcome” signs on our classroom walls, and pretend that we don’t exist in North Carolina. Many of the elected leaders in our state government certainly seem to agree; just look at our scores on gay and trans rights based on state legislation, or more specifically, last year’s Senate Bill 49.
Millie in the 1st grade
For 15 years, North Carolina has been held hostage by right-wing politicians who maintain their power through gerrymandering. Anti-LGBTQ legislation comes from the same leaders who want to dismantle public schools in favor of for-profit charter schools and vouchers. Attacking the LGBTQ community goes hand in hand with their plan to destroy public education in our state and in the US for good.
Our students deserve better. It is estimated that almost two million youth aged 13-17 in the US identify as LGBTQ, which means that most of us are going to have kids in our classrooms who are starting to question their own identities in order to figure out who they are, with or without the adults in their lives.
That’s why it’s more important than ever for me to be out at my job. Despite what the right seems to think, I spend 99% of my day teaching math. I spend the other 1% trying to get ridiculous adolescent slang like “crash out” and “rizz” out of my mind. I want my students to know that if they are queer, there are people who will accept them for who they are and that they can have a happy future. Of course, some educators aren’t in a place to be safely out at work. In North Carolina, it’s still legal to be fired for being gay. That’s why it’s important for ally teachers and staff to be loud and proud about their support.
Every student who comes through our doors has value, and deserves to learn in an environment where they don’t have to hide a part of who they are. As educators, we know that people literally can’t learn when they don’t feel a basic level of respect and acceptance. Our first job is to foster that environment, and only then can we teach our students.
Every single one of North Carolina’s students deserves to go to a school where they are fully supported in all facets of their identity. Let’s keep working to make that a reality.
