Queer teacher to queer teacher: reflections, questions, and hopes from current and aspiring educators

Today, members of the various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities enjoy many of the same rights and privileges as their cis-gender, heterosexual peers. Yet, the lived experiences of many queer-identified teachers in schools remain problematic, uncomfortable, and tension-filled. Given the rise of ‘No Promo Homo’ laws that exist in six states and current Supreme Court cases being argued that question whether or not anti-discrimination laws should apply to sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, many queer teachers justifiably feel uneasy. In this reflective narrative, I utilized semi-structured interviews to awaken participants’ memories of past classroom experiences. While not engaged in face-to-face interaction, the six queer individuals who participated in this project evoke images of people in conversation from afar. Throughout the narrative, I insert my voice in the hopes of creating larger meaning from the wisdom, advice, questions, fears, and hopes of the six participants.