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2- The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 28, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Teachers, children deal with bigotry Readers respond to series on gay youth By Herb Garbutt SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER lthough she at one time questioned her career choice, Lisa is doing what she always wanted to -- teaching children. It was the opportunity to help children bring out their strengths, open their minds and help them reach their potential that drew her to the teaching profession. "It is one of the most rewarding careers out there," she said. "It's not just a job for me, it's a passion." But upon graduating from university and enrolling in teachers" college, Lisa - not her real name - began to doubt her career choice. "I found myself surrounded by potential teachers who were openly admitting how narrow minded they were, and I knew that no gay child or child of gay parents would be safe in their classrooms." It was particularly troubling for Lisa because she is gay. This month, The Beaver published a A Editor's note: Earlier this month, The Oakville Beaver printed a three-part series about the challenges faced by gay youths. The Beaver received some interesting responses to the series from both adults and young people wanting to share their experiences. The following story is a direct result of the series. series of three stories examined the difficulties gay teenagers face in high school. Judging by the response to those stories, gay students are not alone in dealing with homophobia. Gay teachers, the children of `non-traditional families' and students struggling with gender identity also share the same concerns. Accepting people's differences Lisa believes people's fear of having a gay teacher for their children is that "I'll be promoting ideals that might not run parallel to their own." Nothing could be further from the truth, she says. Although she has heard children as young as 10 make comments about other students being gay, she is careful to speak in more general terms about accepting people's differences. "As a teacher, I strive to create an environment that teaches children that it is okay to be different, and that we need to embrace and celebrate the diversity among us," she said. "It is a difficult thing to do this when I feel like my community does not do the same for me." Lisa sees other teachers with pictures of their spouses on their desks and wonders if the day will ever arrive where she can have a picture of her partner on her desk. "Would it jade their perception of me as a teacher?" she wonders. "Generally (school) doesn't feel like a safe place to be open. You're always apprehensive about people judging you. You try to gauge people, whether they will be accepting, but it's always a risk. And with the risk you have to consider what are the consequences?" Would parents pull their children out of her class? That may not be far fetched considering what Nancy Hart-Day and her partner Chris have encountered. "As a teacher, I strive to create an environment that teaches children that it is okay to be different, and that we need to embrace and celebrate the diversity among us. It is a difficult thing to do this when I feel like my community does not do the same for me." Lisa, a gay Halton school teacher Amber Door Spa Come in and relax your mind, body and soul oyster perpetual datejust in steel and 18kt yellow gold * Facials * Lifting Treatments * Microdermabrasion * Chemical Peels * Organic Treatments * Body Treatments * Manicures/Pedicures * Relaxation Massages * Hot Stone Massages * Reiki/Chakra Cleansing Proud to Support Earth Hour On March 29, 2008 at 8 pm please join the World and shut out your lights for 1 Hour! www.earthhour.org "It's sad to grow old, but nice to ripen." - Bridgette Bardot NEW! Ask about our Laser Hair Removal Upper Middle Road Trafalgar Road Reeves Gate 3rd Line Gift Certificates Available Heritage Way N 1500 Heritage Way, Unit 6 QEW 905.469.4825 www.amberdoorspa.com A lesbian couple with two children, Hart-Day said she and her partner's children are often treated unfairly because of their parents' sexuality. They sent their eldest child to a private school hoping they would find an environment "more open to differences and different cultures." That's not what they found. Their daughter had many friends and attended their birthday parties. "As parents we started to meet with families of her friends," Hart-Day said. "They started telling (their children) not to associate with her." Hart-Day says she and her partner have explained that people have different views of what a family is and that not everyone accepts their definition of a family. Still, she finds it discouraging that her children often bear the brunt of others' negative view of gays. "We don't want them to have to fight our battles," Hart-Day said. "If you have a problem, come to me, don't take it out on my children." Hart-Day and her partner realize there is another battle on the horizon that, like it or not, their daughter, and eventually their son, will have to face. "People assume our children are going to be gay," she See Teacher page 4