“Appealing to the difference in a non-tokenizing manner in a middle school classroom requires digging deep into the issues of gender, race and class, and pushing students beyond easy notions of black and white or rich and poor and into a realm of ever shifting intersections of identity” (Krywanczyk, pg. 3)

Two thoughts filled my head while reading this personal essay about transexuality and middle school students: I wish the young adults in my classes exhibited the same maturity in discussing trans issues as they did with their studies in Spanish and we need more stories like Krywanczyk’s to strengthen the fabric of our schools. My seventh graders are perhaps my most immature class when it comes to learning Spanish, but they have consistently demonstrated an understanding and compassion towards one of their transsexual classmates that makes me proud. There are days when in particular when one student named Justin cannot be lead to focus on the lesson but will listen to his struggling trans classmate without hesitation. Compassion like that is not learned, it’s innate.

Like Krywanczyk describes, middle school students are more than ready to discuss trans issues and in a meaningful way. Additionally, many students are not simply poised to discuss trans issues in the abstract, they are inquiring and processing in real time about actual trans classmates and teachers. If we as teachers can’t be a source of open dialogue and discovery to our students, we perpetuate the stigma and the cycle of misinformation which leads to stereotypes, but most sadly leads to violence. There’s a naive part of me that wants to draw a parallel between my being out at work and transgender people being out as well. My decision to be out at work was as much about me making my truth public for my own sanity as it was about showing other gay people that they could do the same. There is no such parallel though for transgenders, their average life expectancy is about 35 years old. I applaud the author for his bravery, but I can understand that for where we are at this point in history, sharing a transgender story publicly isn’t an option for everyone. Even more so though, as the author states, his story doesn’t necessarily have to be the central focus of these discussions.