Respond to: There are transsexuals in our middle schools!

“To queer is to venture into controversial, intellectually complicated, nuanced terrain with students. It requires faith that middle school students in a public school such as mine not only can, but must, learn to grapple with complexity if their education is going to provide opportunities, rather than impose insurmountable limitations.” Continue reading Queer pedagogy, just one aspect to nurture critical thinking skills! →

“Homophobia is far less about the irrational fear of gay people, or the fear that one might actually be gay or have gay tendencies, and more about the fear that heterosexuals have that others might (mis)perceive them as gay. The terror that others will see one as gay, as a failed man–the fear that I call homophobia–underlies a significant amount of men’s violence.” – M. Kimmel, “I am Not Insane, I am Angry”

This entire article made me do fist pumps because it articulated everything I’ve been trying to tell people for years. The first time I came across this was in undergraduate, when I told my mom I was thinking of joining the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance). Her response was, “But won’t people think you’re gay?” I remember at first thinking, “Oh yeah, you’re right,” and then halting and thinking, “So?! What would be wrong with that?” That moment had a huge impact on my relationship with gay rights and being a proper “ally.”  Continue reading Fragile Masculinity →