So a Gay Man Wants to be a Teacher

I’ve been seeing some disturbing things related to LGBT teachers.

The biggest story out there is about Ken Bencomo and St. Lucy’s. Bencomo was fired just 11 days after footage and an interview of his marriage to his partner aired on local news following Prop 8′s defeat.

There’s also Dr. Tiffany Wright’s (Millersville University) study results that say LGBT teachers are the least likely to put a stop to anti-gay bullying in schools for fear of losing their jobs.

Considering most states don’t have anything that prevents someone from being fired for their sexual orientation, I understand it’s risky to want to be a teacher and be out at the same time. Ohio’s one of the places that can fire you for any reason at all — and I’ve heard they’re pretty good at making up reasons too. Jazz is accepted at the university, but he’s not a teacher. I also suspect college/university teachers might be a different animal altogether compared to elementary or high school teachers. And I’m pretty sure that’s only because of the parental involvement and the fact college classes are voluntary.

So what’s a gay guy looking to be a teacher to do here?

Hope it gets better before I’m licensed to teach?

Because I’m not going to be able to keep who I am boxed up and I’m certainly not going to hide Jazz. I will refuse to allow anti-gay bullying to happen in front of me and I’ll support my LGBT students.

I guess I need to look into “progressive” schools where people don’t have their heads stuffed up their own pink winks.