Decades ago, a Black teacher fresh from school stood in front of a class full of white students.
Nobody in that room had experienced anything like that before. No doubt parents of that era responded negatively and petitioned to have the teacher removed, and perhaps he or she was.
But more courageous Black teachers came and taught. Minds and hearts were won over one student at a time, and today’s students give little regard to the ethnic background of the teachers they work with.
Now we have a non-binary teacher dressing as they feel most comfortable, and it’s as if nothing has been learned from all of that past courage and sacrifice. Parents were up in arms; the Anchorage School District put the teacher on administrative leave.
What I have to say is for that teacher, and anyone else who cares to listen: There will be a time in the future when a teacher’s gender choice will be inconsequential in how they are selected. Today they are the focal point of the culture war, fending back hatred and fear. It can’t be much fun, but I ask them to please hang in there. Their students care less about it than their parents think they do, and they can count on me, for one, as an ally. I hope they know they have many, many more.
— John Gallup
Girdwood
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