One Teacher in Ten: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories – Vianca Yohn

Book Review >>> Vianca Yohn One Teacher in Ten: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories, 2nd Edition

Jennings, Kevin. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 2005. 288 pp.

Ten years after the first edition, the second installment of One Teacher in Ten represents a gradual change in attitude toward LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender) educators. While LGBT teachers and administrators were once forced to remain “in the closet,” they are now experiencing more and more freedom to simply be who they are – as the authors of these stories testify. One Teacher in Ten is a collection of essays written by LGBT educators around the United States and is compiled by Kevin Jennings, the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network – or GLSEN, a nationwide education and advocacy networking program. The essays fall into one of four parts of the book: “Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are,” which (none too surprisingly) contains teachers’ stories about coming out in the classroom; “Lessons Taught…and Learned,” in which teachers recall particularly memorable and poignant “teachable moments” related to sexuality and gender identity; “MaySeptember,” where teachers tell of how coming out at school affected them outside of it, for better or for worse; and “Change Agent,” which details how some teachers have extended their influence in LGBT education and advocacy beyond their own schools. Within each part are essays that are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring, sometimes frightening – but always are poignantly revealing. The book, in theory, is not uncontroversial. Many parents and administrators balk at the idea of having LGBT individuals in schools – as do some students – but this is exactly the pattern that the book seeks to break. Many of the contributing teachers have taught for ten, twenty, even fifty years, and are no less competent (and no more sexually predatory) than their heterosexual counterparts. They also cite being in committed relationships on-par with their coworkers’ marriages, raising children, attending PTA meetings, and other such aspects of daily life that differ very little from a straight teacher’s. Despite dealing with accusations of sexual harassment, the spread of rumors about affairs with students of the same gender, vandalism and homophobic graffiti, and the fear of losing their jobs, these teachers ultimately found their niche in the education system. After working their way to a stable, safe status in their careers, they are now sharing their experiences with the LGBT teachers of the future. Off-hand, the ideal audience for this book may seem relatively narrow and self-evident – namely, LGBT teachers and teacher-hopefuls – but the message should not stop there. Every student of a LGBT teacher – and maybe even students who are not – should read this book as another step in understanding that LGBT teachers are no less qualified or trustworthy than straight teachers. Every LGBT student of an LGBT teacher should read this book so they can be comforted in knowing that their “out” teachers can and will support them, es

pecially if these students have no one else to whom they can turn. Every parent, whether his or her child has a LGBT teacher or not, should read this book to further their own education about how LGBT people’s lives are not significantly different from anyone else’s, and neither is their role as productive members of society. School administrators should read this book to either reaffirm their support of their own LGBT teachers or to hopefully learn to do so; likewise, straight teachers working with LGBT teachers should read this book, whether it be to continue voicing their support or to explore why LGBT teachers are looking for equal, not special, rights in the classroom. Of course, my hopes for the book are considerably idealistic, but, even when I am being realistic, I have no doubt that it can be highly influential. For one, it is centered on one of the focal points of American debate: education, particularly the quality of educators. Anyone who wants the best education for his or her child must also consider the employment and protection of competent teachers, regardless of sexuality or gender identity. The book also addresses the more abstract but nonetheless important issue of human rights and fair treatment; are two teachers truly equal when one can wear a wedding ring and show her class pictures of her husband when her coworker cannot? When an administration begins to dictate what bumper stickers certain teachers can have on their cars because it doesn’t agree with pro-LGBT sentiments, even when on private property? Or when a teacher can have his or her employment terminated or be threatened with termination of employment for revealing even the smallest facet of his or her personal life? In the end, whether the reader supports or opposes having LGBT educators, the book is a quintessential piece of literature from which the reader can derive evidence for, or at the very least, understand “the other side” of the debate. I recommend it to anyone who seeks the LGBT perspective of being a teacher in a heterosexually-dominated education system.