Thread by @rollforlearning

Hi, #onted. If you didn't know, there's a war on 2SLGBTQIA+ people right now - especially trans and gender diverse folks.

Some of the loudest queerphobic voices are calling for an end to 2SLGBTQIA+ teaching in schools.

I have a few thoughts on that. (1/8)

I was a queer kid in #onted once. It was at a time when we really didn't talk about 2SLGBTQIA+ people at all.

It sucked. It was a daily exercise in being told and shown that I was fundamentally broken.

Here is a blog I wrote for #ETFO on that: heartandart.ca/on-being-a-que… (2/8)

Now I'm a queer teacher in #onted.

It still sucks.

While I know now that my life is beautiful and fun and should be celebrated, I still face daily reminders that I am often seen as little more than a "controversial topic."

I wrote about that, too: heartandart.ca/on-being-a-que… (3/8)

Seeing comments about how #onted schools are so "woke" & "indoctrinating kids" always brings out a sardonic chuckle from me.

Whatever you think is happening in schools, I assure you: people aren't teaching about 2SLGBTQIA+ identities as much as you think.

It's a problem. (4/8)

These people have no idea how brutally lonely and isolating it is to be queer sometimes.

To be openly queer at work is to ask, all day:

Who's safe? Who's lying? Who thinks you're ill? Who thinks you're unfit to be an educator?

Who will help you when you're targeted? (5/8)

But I won't be silenced. I won't be forced back into hiding.

Because every year, there are students and staff who find safety and community at school through #onted educators seeing them, validating them, and valuing them.

I will always be visible. Always. For them. (6/8)

Affirming a student's identity is not indoctrination or conversion therapy.

Protecting a student's safety by not outing them to their family is not a violation of parental rights.

Teaching about gender diversity does not invalidate cisgender identities. (7/8)

The media is finally - FINALLY - picking up on the wave of hate that is trying to sweep municipal elections in #onted and #onpoli.

These candidates have twisted information and are outright lying about what happens in schools.

We cannot let them win. (8/8)

Here are the two loudest, most vocal candidates who want "gender ideology" (AKA respecting students' names, pronouns, gender identities, gender expression, you know, a big part of WHO THEY ARE) out of schools:

https://twitter.com/ctvottawa/status/1561503512407711744?s=20&t=lVSoCvAHaGh64XBqEfUFMw

Not me posting a twitter thread at 10:30 pm when no one will see it while my wife waits for me to bring up the bedsheets so she can go to sleep. Not again. 🙃