Keep in mind Iām a cis woman writing this.
So I was debating posting this but I think it needs to be said.
So Iām a student teacher and this week, we started at a new school district. Now I wonāt presume to begin to pretend that I know what everyoneās political ideologies are in this school district but keep in mind that itās in rural New York State and rural New York State tends to run red. Not as red as some other places but definitely not blue and not even really purple.Ā
Anyway yesterday was my first ever professional development day. So Iām all dressed up, introducing myself to other teachers, and I shake hands with the superintendent who seems like a really nice guy.
And about halfway through the day, he goes up to the front of the theater and he starts talking about the best ways to talk to and help transgender/nonbinary students. Itās the basic things we all learn in our education classes. And you can tell that heās a bit uncomfortable and so are some of the teachers. And at last, he stops and says,Ā āFolks, I have to be honest. My father is rolling in his grave right now.ā
And Iām in the back like,Ā āOh no.ā
And so he pauses again and then he starts implying that he was raised to have a very negative opinion on the transgender community. And he continues to say that he had to unlearn a lot in the past few decades and then he admitted that he still doesnāt get it. He outright admitted that he personally doesnāt understand how someone comes to the conclusion that theyāre not their assigned gender. And he admits that of course he doesnāt because heās never had to go through that.
And then he says,Ā āBut I donāt have to get it.ā
The theater fills with whispers and then he says [and Iām paraphrasing here],Ā āI donāt have to get it. I donāt even have to agree with it. Because it doesnāt matter what I think or what I feel or what my beliefs are. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that I respect that student and I respect their choice.ā
And then he reminded the teachers of every single policy that the school district follows from letting any student use their bathroom of choice to changing the studentsā names per the studentsā requests to not telling the parents anything unless the student gives consent to do so.
And at the end, he brought it back by saying,Ā āMy father just rolled in his grave again. But it doesnāt matter. It doesnāt matter what you think, it doesnāt matter what you believe, because itās not about you. Itās about your kids. And you need to love your kids! Love your kids! Love your kids!ā
Long story short, this looks like itās going to be a good placement.
janainaart
theartofmadeline
jacobvanloon
titsay
germansingergirl
gummygunk
dededos
