Unread postby 0PT1M15T1C » Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:24 pm
I hope it's okay I add in here a little, when I first came out, I came out as agender. Since then I've found that I identify far more in the binary as a trans male.
While I'm not entirely sure what things are like where you live when it comes to issues around being trans (however you define it), I know for me, it really helped to have an inclusive space finally. In my school we have a teacher who identifies as non-binary, they also run my school QSA. For me, I was able to see an adult that did it and feel supported by those around me, which is something a lot of young people don't talk too much about, but it does come up. I was able to kind of look at this teacher and say "well they're happy, they seem really normal and no one thinks differently of them for it", it also led me to the point where I could say "I can actually do this and be okay." - that was a big deal for me.
I also don't know how open you'd be willing to be about it, but really, I'd say highschool is when a whole lot of kids start questioning that, but not a lot of them have a safe space to do it in (I'm speaking from experience and from those I've talked to), so having an adult that they can trust won't be mad at them and will respect them no matter what, is incredible. I think most trans kids in highschool have that one teacher that really kind of made it okay for them, and I am so grateful those people exist, mine was my 6th grade teacher and my 7th grade social teacher, my friends was their middle school science teacher, another friends was I believe one of the drama teachers. But for all of us, if we didn't have that person, school was absolute hell, where you were being misgendered, disrespected, teased and not heard by others.. it was those teachers that at the end of the day made us think "Maybe I can be okay." So more than anything, if you're going into teaching, PLEASE try to be that person for someone.
Personally, I loved when teachers would do the things that Heather mentioned in their post. When a teacher gave me that option to say "I go by he/him" and know that if anyone had an issue with that, the teacher would help me out a bit. At my school, we also go by last names on roll call unless the teacher has had time to write down all the preferred names which aren't in the system, which just felt freeing that no one would hear my name (granted, now it's the name I go by, but I hated it for a while).
Also, with that teacher, they still go by "Mr." but use they/them pronouns, just to give an example of choices that are up to the person.
Really, though, the point of making this, was to say from a highschool student's perspective, it helped a great deal to have a teacher that I knew would respect me no matter what and somewhat understood what I was going through. It allowed me to feel safe, which when kids are being bullied for it or even just exploring, is honestly one of the best things ever. When you can look at an adult and say "well, they did it, they're okay, maybe I can do that too", it's a really great thing.
You have the power to say "This is not how my story will end".