There remains a lack of confidence among some educators about role modeling empathy and leadership supporting the struggles of LGBTQu2026
“Iwish my teachers could understand how important pronouns are. It’s physically painful to be misgendered. If they do mess up, I wish they’d just calmly correct themselves instead of making a huge deal out of it.” — Beau
“Iwish they understood that it takes a lot to come out, especially while still in school. I’m just like everyone else — I just want to be able to live my life while also transitioning and it not be a huge deal.” — Addison
“Iworry about being attacked in the restroom. I fear my teacher using the wrong pronouns. I worry that my teachers will separate the class into groups by gender and will tell me I’m in the wrong one. I worry that they’ll use my birth name.” — Asher
“Iwant my teachers to know how much it means to make their classroom a safe space. I’ve spent a lot of time feeling uncomfortable because of transphobic and homophobic things I’ve heard. A lot of teachers don’t have the training to respond when they hear a student saying something terrible, so they just ignore.” — Sam
“Iwish my teachers knew how exhausting it is to come to school every day. My experience at school is more difficult and anxiety-producing. I need my teachers to understand why I’m missing school — it’s not because I don’t care or don’t want to be there, it’s because I don’t feel safe.” — James