Dear Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Teacher

Letters Of Advice To Help You Find Your Way

Edited by:
William DeJean, Inspiration Unleashed
Jeff Sapp, California State University Dominguez Hills

A volume in the series: Educational Leadership for Social Justice. Editor(s): Jeffrey S. Brooks, Curtin University. Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University. Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University. Sandra Harris, Lamar University. Whitney Sherman Newcomb, Virginia Commonwealth University. George Theoharis, Syracuse University.

Published 2017

Dear Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Teacher: Letters Of Advice To Help You Find Your Way is full of the voices of queer educators and calls for educational leaders to be allies in their social justice leadership roles. Queer professionals write personal letters to junior queer colleagues answering the general prompt, “What have you learned as a queer educator that you believe is essential to the success of current or future gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered educators?” The responses are thoughtful, powerful, poignant, and direct.

The collection of letters includes senior queer professionals, pre‐service teachers who were currently in university courses at the very beginning of their careers, PreK‐12 professionals at the beginning, middle, and end of their careers, administrators, counselors, teacher‐educators at the university level, community educational leaders, lawyers, and heterosexual allies. There are early childhood teachers, elementary teachers, middle school and high school teachers representing nearly every content area, special education teachers, GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) leaders, school counselors, university professors of education across various fields of specialization, and activists. There are many races and ethnicities represented as well as eight countries. There are rural professionals and urban professionals. There are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered educators represented. This group of letters represents the intersectionality of queerness in all of its rich splendor.

CONTENTS
Series Editor’s Preface, Jeffrey S. Brooks. Introduction and Overall Framework, Jeff Sapp and William DeJean. Queer Leadership, Jeff Sapp. PART I: PRESERVICE CREDENTIAL CANDIDATES. Introduction, Jeff Sapp. Studying to Become a Teacher in a Rural Area: The Obstacles That Get in the Way, Michelle Butters. The First, Frightening Moment I Came Out: A Diary Entry on a Cold and Rainy Day, Bernie Davern. Out in the Staffroom, Erin P. Greaves. PART II: PRE‐K–12 EDUCATORS. Introduction, Jeff Sapp and William DeJean. We Are Family: The Role of GLBTIQS Activism in Human Rights Education, Geoff Allshorn. Coming Out Again, and Again, and Again, Melissa Ash‐Balá. Transparency, Visibility, and Belonging, Hau Bui. Come Out, Come Out, Where You Are: Bringing LGBT Matters Out of the Early Childhood Education Closet, Kathy Cloughessy. From a School Leader of the 21st Century to a Child of the Past and Teachers of the Future, Shaun Dellenty. On Being a Teacher First and Transgender Second, Itsuki Doi. Know and/of Established Rules, Practices, and Policies, Dora J. Dome. No More Schoolyard Bullies, Raul Duque. I Am Free, Lorelei Estrada. Ten Years of Inqueeries, Tara Goldstein. Advice From Beyond the Closet, Janna Jackson. That Gay Teacher, Rebecca Langham. The School Production and Queer Objects of Amusement, Jack Migdalek. Find Your Bottom Line, Elizabeth Miline‐Kahn. To Come Out or Not to Come Out: Is it Worth the Risk? Paul Chamness Miller. Sleeping With a Mosquito, Olivia Noto. Confidence Is the Key, Ginny Taylor. PART III: COUNSELORS AND MEDIATORS. Introduction, Carol Sullivan. Be All of Whom You Are Early and Often, Stuart Chen‐Hayes. A Toast for Amber and Lauren, Erwin “Sino” Donato. Coming Out With a Whisper, Osvelio C. Lastre. PART IV: HIGHER EDUCATION. Introduction, Jeff Sapp. Queer‐Care, Oxygen Masks, and Other Insights Into Caring for Yourself and Your Queer Students, Fiona J. Benson. Some Reflections on Working Around Anger and Change for New Queers, Michael Crowhurst. Who You Are Matters, William DeJean. Delusions of Mediocrity: Queer Teachers and Business as Usual, Anne Harris. Down the Rabbit Hole: Learning New Perspectives Around Diverse Genders, Sexes, and Sexualities, Terence Humphreys. Crossing the Pacific Ocean: A Queer Man of Color’s Journey of Crossing Cultural Borders in Higher Education in the United States. Mitsunori Misawa. Be the Change You Wish to See in the World: Telling Our Stories With Integrity and Passion, Mara Sapon‐Shevin. I Wish I Had Read the Faculty Manual: Tips for Queers in the System, Jeff Sapp. Queers Are Pioneers: Keeping an Open Mind About Education, Paul Venzo. PART V: ALLIES, ACCOMPLICES, AND COCONSPIRATORS. Introduction: Acts of Solidarity—Reflections of Ally Work Within Queer School Movements, Elexia McGovern‐Reyes. From Antiracist to Antiracist Racist, From Ally to Accomplice, Christine Clark and Doris L. Watson. I Felt the Breeze as You Sprinted by Me, Paul Gorski. Make Allies, Sonia Nieto. Answering the Call: We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, Lorri J. Santamaria. Conclusion, Jeff Sapp and William DeJean. About the Editors.