So you want to be a trans ally…
How Can I Make My Classroom Trans-Friendly?
A question most teachers probably don’t consider — until they have to
Let’s face it: if you’re an educator, designing your classroom in a way that’s inclusive and welcoming for *trans students isn’t something you learned about in college. It’s still probably not on your radar today, even if you’ve been teaching for decades. That is, unless you’ve actually had a trans student in your classroom — meaning, the student (and/or their parents) disclosed this fact with you, typically in confidentiality. And with COVID-19 uncertainties, who knows when (or if) schools will ever open per usual?
*Trans, short for transgender, is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what’s typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Basically, “trans” encompasses all gender identities that are not cisgender.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a K-12 public or private school teacher, online teacher, or college professor. The fact is, there are trans students of all ages and stages.
If you haven’t had a trans student yet — to your knowledge — it’s only a matter of time before you do. This is not because there are suddenly more of them…
