Keep in mind Iâm a cis woman writing this.
So I was debating posting this but I think it needs to be said.
So Iâm a student teacher and this week, we started at a new school district. Now I wonât presume to begin to pretend that I know what everyoneâs political ideologies are in this school district but keep in mind that itâs 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.Â
Anyway yesterday was my first ever professional development day. So Iâm 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. Itâs the basic things we all learn in our education classes. And you can tell that heâs a bit uncomfortable and so are some of the teachers. And at last, he stops and says, âFolks, I have to be honest. My father is rolling in his grave right now.â
And Iâm in the back like, âOh no.â
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 doesnât get it. He outright admitted that he personally doesnât understand how someone comes to the conclusion that theyâre not their assigned gender. And he admits that of course he doesnât because heâs never had to go through that.
And then he says, âBut I donât have to get it.â
The theater fills with whispers and then he says [and Iâm paraphrasing here], âI donât have to get it. I donât even have to agree with it. Because it doesnât 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.â
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 studentsâ names per the studentsâ 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, âMy father just rolled in his grave again. But it doesnât matter. It doesnât matter what you think, it doesnât matter what you believe, because itâs not about you. Itâs about your kids. And you need to love your kids! Love your kids! Love your kids!â
Long story short, this looks like itâs going to be a good placement.
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