Welcome back to Pride POV. As y’all know, we’re having tough talks on what’s happening to the LGBTQ+ community across the country. Today’s feature is all about queer teachers and the wave of book bans threatening their students’ educations, imagination, and freedom.

Educators are literally the most burned out group of workers in America. Now throw in a global pandemic, record-breaking book bans, and threats from parents, school boards, and politicians just for being themselves. Seems kinda impossible, huh? Well, that’s exactly what queer teachers are dealing with, and they’ve got our respect. We talked with high school English teacher Brooke Padilla (she/her) from SoCal, 7th grade teacher Bill Bogle (they/them) from San Fran, and gifted education elementary teacher Jere Chang (she/her) from Atlanta to learn more about how dividing politics has changed the academic landscape, how book bans can affect their students’ lives, and what it means to represent the LGBTQ+ community where they teach.

Whether they’ve been doing their job for a year, five years, or 17 years—these educators are setting examples each and every day for their kids to be who they want to be, which is what school should be about. Shhh! Listen up, class is in session. 👩‍🏫
 

In your time teaching, how have you seen the political landscape change in education?
BROOKE: Although I’m a new teacher, I’ve noticed a huge shift over the last five years since I graduated. It’s been apparent that policymakers on both sides of the political spectrum are focused on teacher retention, causes of teacher burnout, school safety procedures, and academic and social-emotional recovery returning back to school from the pandemic. More recently, I’ve experienced that district employees and school policymakers have found an urgent need to focus on topics that are considered controversial or taboo such as race, sex, gender, parental rights, and LGBTQ+ student’s rights.These changes in the political climate affect me as a queer teacher immensely. Although I’m fortunate to live in a state that protects my rights as an openly gay teacher, it still feels scary. My greatest hope is that by just being my authentic self, that this encourages my students to live their own lives bravely and without fear of restrictions. I grieve for teachers across the country who don’t get to experience the same freedoms of expression, diversity in curriculum, and same protected rights as I have. I see stories of queer teachers being fired or put on administrative leave for simply sharing that they’re engaged to their partners, or putting up photos of their families on their desks. I read articles that show the continued battle for equal, protected rights for teachers of color across our nation, and again, I grieve and feel angry for teachers that experience these inequities.
BILL: I have absolutely seen a lot of change in the last few years. In my first year of working, I was perceived widely as a trans man—I would bind and had a shaved head. During that time, I got a lot of comments from adults like, “You’re confusing the kids” or even that people felt uncomfortable about me being alone with them. Once we went back to in-person learning, I felt like I had a lot more students who identified with being nonbinary and overall, my students were very casual about correcting and asking about pronouns. Younger people don’t get as defensive about respecting pronouns as adults tend to. Over the last year though, I’ve seen a lot more divide in schools. Some people will be very vocal about refusing to respect pronouns and the others will stand more strongly in favor of trans and LGBTQ+ rights. This year, I had more trans and nonbinary students than ever, but I also saw the most bullying against them as well.
JERE: I teach in a progressive school that celebrates inclusivity. However, when watching trends throughout the U.S., I feel there’s much work to be done on merely accepting queer students, staff, and faculty. It seems that the media and politicians are creating a divide, and as a result, we’re taking steps back with regard to queer folks feeling welcome in schools—especially in conservative areas.Book bans have officially reached an all time high. How does that make you feel?
BROOKE: I believe that book bans cause children and young adults harm. As an English teacher, I believe that not allowing students to explore and understand different worldviews outside of their own cultures, beliefs, and religions produces a far more narrow mindset. The most commonly banned books, or books that parents strive to ban, focus on things that actually exist in our world today: drugs, sex, diversity, violence, relationship tensions, etc. It’s a disservice to students to take away reading experiences that could affect the way they cope with difficult issues in their own lives.

My school district had to go through a book ban process with district employees and concerned parents this past school year over two texts that parents felt concerned over. I think if a parent doesn’t want their child to read a certain book, that’s their right as parents to make that choice. Do I necessarily agree with that choice? No, but it should be respected as they’re their parents. However, I don’t agree that parents that are concerned about their own children reading “controversial” topics should have the right to ban books from all students at their child’s school or school district. Both of the books that parents failed to ban from all schools in our district this past year were rated highly by our student body, as students commented in a survey that they found valuable and relatable experiences they connected to in the content.
BILL: The book bans we’re seeing across the U.S. currently are atrocious. The push to remove books and resources that center marginalized voices needs to stop. Books have power. They allow people to see through the eyes of others who have vastly different experiences than themselves and are great tools for learning empathy. Removing these books will have real consequences in our students’ lives; these book bans center white superiority and transphobia. Regardless of book bans, the stories and experiences of marginalized people will not stop being shared, but it will reinforce the ways that schools have been used as a means to maintain oppressive systems throughout history in America. You have to ask yourself what side of history you want to be on, then reflectively instigate what side of history you are on.
JERE: I’m perplexed by the idea of banning books. I find value in learning and exploring through reading, regardless of my beliefs. Ex: I’ve read books about Buddhism, but I’m neither Buddhist nor do I practice Buddhism. Sadly, many of the banned books merely have marginalized characters/representation, and I believe that children need to see themselves represented. I had zero queer representation throughout my entire K-12 education—literally none. It would’ve been comforting to simply see myself portrayed anywhere, especially a book in my classroom.

Speaking of books, which ones would you recommend to your queer students?
BROOKE: I just talked to one of my students before the school year ended about YA fiction she enjoys, and here are some she mentioned: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, Quiver by Julia Watts, Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin, Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, and None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio.
BILL: A great book to read in class is Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender.
JERE: Matilda, Pink is for Boys, It’s Okay to Be Different, The Paper Bag Princess, Mae Among the Stars, and the Wings of Fire series.

How can we help you right now?
BROOKE: I appreciate Amazon gift cards that will go towards buying books for my bookshelf, further decorating my new classroom, pencils, pens, tissues (never knew how many boxes kids could go through [laughing]), and other classroom essentials. My email is bropadilla098@gmail.com if you feel inclined to donate or send anything.
BILL: You can support our communities by donating to crowdfunds like this one, this one, or this one.
JERE: Support and/or donate to causes that will impact queer folks positively, vote, find LGBTQ+ creators on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube and support them in their comment sections or Amazon Wish Lists. I’m fortunate to live in an accepting area and attend a school with ample resources. But there are so many others who don’t get to share this privilege.