Stars and Stripes

I wish all of my American readers and happy and safe Fourth of July!  Of the 308,354 pages views of my blog in past 18 months, nearly 58% of them have been from the United States. If it weren't for all the people reading and commenting on my blog,  I wouldn't be writing it at all!   Thank you!

It has given me the greatest pleasure to make a record of my journey.  I hope that I have also provided, in a small way,  information for gay folks in other countries on the conditions enjoyed by your Canadian brothers and sisters.

My last post on being a gay high school teacher and blogger generated some comments which I will to address here:

Two Lives:    Yes, I have been propositioned on gay hookup sites by closeted teacher colleagues, students (both former and present), retired colleagues and by fathers of students.  None of whom knew who they were chatting with....

The first question I ask every 20-something guy wanting to hook up: "What high school did you go to?"   Just yesterday, it broke my heart to turn down an athletic 21 year old who wanted to hook up.  He had been a student at my school.

He tried hard to convince me that it didn't matter, "I'm really not worried that you might have been my teacher.  I most likely will only want this as a one time thing.  I wouldn't care either way, and I doubt I would remember."   I just couldn't do it! ... but I did applaud him for using excellent grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and capitalization... an online rarity!

I am out to all my family, friends and to my teacher-colleagues at school.   However, my 15 year old son is a student at my school so I am not out to the student body as a whole.  I hope that it will be happening soon.... I'd be an amazing gay role model!!   Out of respect for my son, I won't come out to his fellow students until we discuss it and he gives the 'okay.'

Skier:    There are many gay teachers in our division who are fully out, some of whom are legally married to their same-sex spouses.  Invariably, they are the coolest, most popular teachers in the place.  In my town's public schools (ie:  non-Catholic), a gay teacher arouses NO comment at all... no one gives a rat's ass!   There are other gay teachers who are very discrete, out to colleagues but not to their students.   And, I'm sure, there are few closeted, questioning teachers as well.

Cubby:    The young man of the blindfolded sex encounter was from out of town, for sure.  And yes, I have had many of my male students become infatuated with me.  It's an occupational hazard! Over the years, I've been invited to student parties and to participate in sporting events by presumably-gay boys  in my classess.  One time, I was repeatedly asked out on a date by a persistent 16 year-old gay male student.  I think this topic warrants a post on its own!

Sean:  Thank you for your concern!    I'll be cautious, I promise!  I will do nothing to reveal my geographical location, face or provide identifiable details about my students.   I've revealed quite a bit about myself, but I'm not overly concerned about it.