School's Out - Understanding Queerness in the Classroom and Out

by Jeni Mattingly

as a bike mechanic who is curious about how queerness exists in professional settings, this group has been a fun way to interact with an otherwise dully written book about the unique professional challenges faced by queer teachers. at our last meeting folks shared personal stories about being out at school and what it was like to be an LGBTQ student, which led to a discussion about policy 252 - a set of guidelines for creating a supportive environment for transgender and gender non-conforming students (arguably, all students). it was exciting to see the group come up with action steps to help implement this legislation: more proactive training, community-building, and a shift in classroom habits - one person suggested organizing the students by height rather than gender. 

it will be exciting to see these action steps take shape in the last two meetings of our group, and i am eager to continue connecting an academic book to real-world experiences of educators in our community. 

jeni works at fairmount bicycles where she spends some of her time ranting to delightful customers about "men's" and "women's" helmets (what size is your head! what colors do you like! why is the industry doing this to us!) and other pointlessly gendered products.

Facilitator's Note: We keep forgetting to take pictures during our meetings (the discussions are just too good!), but here are co-facilitator Maddie's cats, Pío and Pasta, helping prepare meeting notes.