Ky Teacher of Year: Attacks on LGBTQ students, teachers for political gain is wrong.
Last week, the 2022 State Teachers of the Year spoke to our nation’s brightest educational leaders and advocates in Washington. We met congressional leaders, with US Education Secretary Cardona, and were guests of President and First Lady Biden at the White House.
President Biden said the following to us:
“We should stand up for you. We should have your back. Teaching is one of the hardest jobs in this country to be able to do it well, and one of the most important. Today, there are too many politicians trying to score political points trying to ban books, even math books. I mean, did you ever think … you would be worrying about book burnings and banning books all because it doesn’t fit somebody’s political agenda?
American teachers have dedicated their lives to teaching our children and lifting them up. We’ve got to stop making them a target of the culture wars.”
The LGBTQ community (educators, students, and families) is at the center of much debate about how orientation or gender identity are addressed at school. As the 2022 Kentucky State Teacher of the Year, I promote inclusive learning environments for all students, including those who identify as LGBTQ. That work is done by me, and others, in part through Gay Straight Alliance organizations or GSAs.
I am a faculty-sponsor for my district’s first LGBTQ-affirming club, OpenLight. It is primarily a social advocacy group, but it shares some function with GSAs. According to the National Association of GSAs, “GSAs are school clubs in which students can talk and learn about sexual orientation, gender identity, and some of the issues that surround them. They’re set up just like any other student group, with a faculty advisor and regular meetings. Everyone is welcome … GSAs play a vital role in making schools safer for LGBTQ students by providing supportive and accepting spaces as well as doing broader organizing work against homophobia and transphobia in school.”
The US has over 4,000 GSAs, which have existed for decades. Their legal legitimacy is well established, but their local support varies. Obviously not all agree on LGBTQ issues, but just as with anything else, disagreement is a natural and healthy component of a free democracy, which affords rights and protections to all, including LGBTQ Americans.
OpenLight was founded in 2017. Its student-led, actively parent-supported initiatives focus on anti-bullying, LGBTQ history, and mental health. We host business leaders, Kentucky university faculty, and authors. OpenLight has done, and continues to do, good work.
This good work fell under attack the day I returned to Kentucky from the White House.
A small but vocal contingent of local people has aggressively targeted OpenLight, first through school board meetings and then social media, attacking its existence, scope, members, and me as advisor. The tenor and content of their misleading, false, and painfully damaging commentary mirrors national trends outlined here and here. The deliberate efforts might be understood within sociopolitical contexts seeking to attack the inclusion work done by educators who, like me, believe that every student matters.
Let me be clear: those who conflate orientation and gender identity with sexualized intent, content, or behavior are engaging in transparently calculated rhetoric designed to harm LGBTQ people. Aimed at schools, this rhetoric attempts to undermine the ethical credibility and professionalism of student-first educators. In short, they attack students and teachers for political gain.
I will stand up for my students, colleagues, and self. My response is clear:
This is wrong. Stand up for us. Have our backs. Support public schools where all students are welcomed.
This is wrong. Stand up for us. Have our backs. Support all students, especially those most harmed.
This is wrong. Stand up for us. Have our backs. Support teachers, who are here to protect and teach everyone.
To anyone with an LGBTQ loved one: Recognize the fear-based, anti-American tactics of those who silence others. Stand up for decency, truth, and love.
Willie Carver, a high school and dual credit French and English teacher at Montgomery County High School, is the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.