While eating lunch today, I overheard some people a few tables over having a conversation (wasn't hard, there were like five people in the room!) about transgendered people.
I wasn't really paying attention until I heard someone say "transgendered people shouldn't be allowed to be teachers"

To say the least, I was completely shocked. The woman who said it stood adamantly by her position - saying that having a TG person as a role model would confuse children... among other things of that nature. (basically, the children would be confused, wouldn't understand, etc.)

I don't personally believe this is true at all... but I was curious what other people think about the subject.


Do you think transgendered people should be allowed to be teachers?

Children have gay teachers, male as well as and female teachers, and teachers of all races. I don't see being transgender as any different than that. I'd also say that since teachers have no obligation to include that kind of personal information in an interview with a public school system, I imagine there already are transgender teachers and people may just not realize it (or it's just not discussed in the professional setting). I once had a teacher who was gay, but he was not officially out of the closet as far as the students knew.

It's like when people say "oh, gays shouldn't adopt" but of course, they already do that. Many gay people are parents! It doesn't matter if someone thinks a group "shouldn't" do something they already have the right to do.

@ stars may collide :

I had a gay teacher once who taught at an all girl's school that I went to.
He was probably the nicest teacher + person I've ever had.
And a bloody brilliant teacher too =)

I think that's ridiculous. That woman is very ignorant.

I remember my first experience with a transgendered person: She was around when I was growing up, as a family friend (she was my dad's childhood friend), I thought she was pretty cool. When I was almost to high school, I found out that she used to be Roger. I was very shocked because I hadn't even thought about it. (I'm deaf so I couldn't hear that her voice was kind of deep - my sister had found out when she was like 7 years old) I was curious because I had NEVER heard of that kind of thing before so I asked my dad about it and he explained to me that she was always unhappy her entire life and when she got her operation, she felt happier, like her outside fit her inside. That was enough for me to understand.

TG or not, it's not anyone's business. The teacher isn't there to say, "Hey I'm transgendered!" The teacher is there to TEACH students English, Math, Science, etc. And kids generally are pretty open minded to things. They sometimes react only IF their parents make a huge deal out of it.

I hate people like that. Seriously, wtf!? Some people need to open their fucking eyes + mind.

Anyway.
I think transgendered people should definitely be allowed to teach.
Just because they are transgendered doesn't mean they should be discriminated against.

Eh I hate people like that. TG or not, they're still people. It's not like they're going to be in the classroom and talking to all the kids about being TG and influencing them. If that were the case I would take issue since it's not a teachers place (TG or not) to talk about that in school, but otherwise it's not a big deal. I mean really, why do people like that think people who are different are going to confuse kids? I think if there's questions about it, kids should be directed to their parents and their parents can explain how they choose to.

Also, this goes back to the ridiculous idea that we need to officially shield children from things they don't need shielding from. A teacher being a part of the LGBT community is NOT the same thing as somehow teaching it or passing on some sort of personal views to students.

As a TG person, this makes me rage. Ridiculous.

@der/doppelganger: Completely agreed, it is ridiculous. I have a TG friend who is an Education major (she's in a lot of my education classes) and I think she'll make a fantastic teacher.

That girl is ignorant. Sad to say a lot of people are like that in this world. In high school we had a teacher who dressed as a female. I wasn't in any of his classes. Either way, he was still a human being but it's idiots with ignorant minds who are wrong. Did she ever think that she wasn't a role model herself??

Err there probably ARE TG teachers out there at the moment and people don't have a clue - more importantly, the children probably don't have a clue. I don't think it would even be an issue? I mean - if teachers are doing their job, teaching subjects like reading, writing, maths etc etc - then where does the teachers gender/sexuality/lifestyle come into it?

Once upon a time all teachers were required to do was to teach children, they didn't have to worry about all the other little things in the world - I don't even know how to word my point here...lets just go back to my opinion - If there is a TG teacher, good for them, they don't have to tell the children (as I'm pretty sure it's not part of their job description to do so) and if the subject ever comes up I'm pretty sure it is in the parents job description to talk it out with the children.

Am I really old fashioned? My belief is, when I said my children to school - they should be taught reading, writing, maths and science - everything else outside of that should be left up to me. That's what my school system was like, I like that system...haha

when I send my children to school*

Way, way back in the (very late) 1980's, I had a Jamaican teacher. In a sheltered city in northern Alberta chock full of Irishmen and Cree natives, she was truly a minority (she was, in fact, one of only two blacks I met during my school years, spanning two cities and two provinces). Never once did any of her students question the colour of her skin. We never became "confused" by her accent or the stories she regaled upon us of her homeland.

This is a prime example of conservative values running rampant. Kids are as openminded as their environment will allow. If a transgendered teacher is among them, they're only exposed to a new avenue of learning. Personally, I think it's because some people still (STILL!!) harbour the belief that such things are either contagious or Satanic temptations.

i don't think kids really think about any of that stuff about their teachers, and teachers probably wouldn't advertise it anyway. what a stupid opinion. my favourite teacher was gay, but i had no idea till i was much older and had left school. when i was a kid i didn't really understand what gay was anyway, but i never thought about being gay or TG as being some sort of cooties filled disease. teachers are there to educate, not disclose personal things about themselves. especially to kids that may not quite grasp it. pretty sure my mum's not going to tell her kinder kids she's menopausal at the moment, so why should anyone have to reveal they're gay/transgendered etc?

Yeah, those are my thoughts regarding gay teachers - a teacher's sex life is completely irrelevant to their teaching. I can't see how it would come up in a classroom setting. With transgender, though, it can be hard to hide, especially if the person had the change later in life, so I can imagine kids might realise, especially older kids. My only thoughts are that a transgender person teaching secondary school would be pretty brave, because teenagers can be hostile towards difference, due to their own insecurities. Although if you got a 'cool' teacher who was able to relate to the kids and get them on his/her side, then that'd be brilliant for challenging kids' stereotypes and helping them be more accepting of difference.

I had a transgender professor at one uni I studied at. When I started my degree, the teacher was a male, and when I finished, she was female. Students tend to be more mature by the time they reach uni though - I just remember there being a lot of curiosity to see what the teacher would look like now she was female!

On another note, I have a friend who won't let her children meet their transgendered aunt, because she thinks they are too young to understand such things. I don't get the logic at all. Little kids have far more fluid gender concepts than adults!

My hope for my children, and their generation, and future generations... is that we as parents will be able to bring them up in an environment filled with a wide variety of people. People of different ethnic backgrounds, different sexualities, different abilities, different needs... whenever my children ask why a certain person is different to them (as children often do) I explain that we are all different shapes, sizes, colours, etc, etc. I point out the differences between myself and my children to show that we're all different in different ways. I want them to grow up with the complete inability to comprehend the concept of prejudice. I would have no issue whatsoever with my children having a transgendered teacher, no more than I would them having a gay, chinese or disabled teacher. As long as that teacher is good at their job, thats the only requirement I have.

At my old vocational school, our principal was a RIDICULOUSLY NICE man. He'd just pop into classrooms, not to evaluate the teachers but to wander around and compliment kids on their work, pat them on the back and tell them they're doing a great job, etc. I was in culinary and he'd pop in a lot for free cupcakes all the time lofl. Toward the end of my senior year, he took the last few months off. Everyone kinda thought he was probably gay, he just seemed a little feminine for a man. But when he came back the following year, a friend entering their senior year said he came back as a woman. No one was confused. Obviously there were a few people who were too bullheaded to see past it, and thusly made fun of her. She didn't really care. She still wandered around, patting kids on the shoulder and telling them they were doing a great job. She was absolutely no different than he was the previous year, except asthetically. A teacher is a teacher, i'd be more concerned with someone teaching who wasn't fucking qualified to teach, who the hell cares who's got what genetalia!?

I loved your stories. I myself will have a transgendered professor in the fall.

I myself may be a bi (as in legitimately, and more gay than straight), and truthfully, I'm a little scared. Let's face it; kids can be mean.

But Jellyka, yes, that was very ignorant of the people there saying that. I don't see why transgendered people should be targeted like that. On the flip side of the coin, they can have a lot to share.

If they do the job correctly and are qualified to do it, who gives a shit if they are gay, straight, bi, transgender, or fucking purple with green polka dots?! I'd honestly be surprised if I had a teacher that was transgender just because I never looked beyond their job. I saw them as a teacher who was helping me learn. I don't care what their sexuality is or what they where born with or without. They are a person and that's all that matters.

We had a transgendered teacher in 9th grade, but she only lasted one year, because mothers went to the principal and said they'd pull their kids out of the school if she weren't gone. They said it was disruptive and a distraction from learning. My parents and a couple other parents were the only ones to back up the teacher. I felt bad for her. It was a huge mess, and she was let go for reasons that weren't made public.