It's Pride Week in my town! My union president invited me to attend the Pride Kick-off Breakfast as an "LGBTQ leader in your school." Too funny! I fell into this LGBTQ leader role accidentally when I outed myself to the wider school district when applying to attend a homophobia workshop in May and it just snowballed from there.
I approached the breakfast venue with some trepidation, dressed in my Pride T-shirt and rainbow wrist band. It seems that gay people are always coming out on different levels but this was to be my biggest "outing" yet. I was coming out to the movers and shakers in my town rather than just within my immediate circle of family, friends, fellow teachers and union officials.
The hundred attendees included every LGBTQ leader in town, municipal and provinical politicians and officials from the local unions, industry and larger businesses. My school division was particularly well represented with a sampling of Superintendents, elected trustees, teachers' union leaders, myself, and various LGBTQ student groups who made moving presentations to the gathering.
I was most impressed that our Director of Education was there, a very important person in this, the biggest school division (geographically) in the province. I don't actually know her and indeed, we'd rarely met but she worked with my ex-wife briefly about 12 years ago. But the Director approached me from across the room, smiled warmly and said, "Hi _ _ _ _ ! How are you doing!" and gave me a hug.
Wow! I'm still trying to figure what that gesture meant! Was it a "thank you" for attending an LGBTQ event which was so important to the school division? Support for my coming out as gay? (and clearly, she had heard the gossip about it.) Or support after surviving a difficult divorce?
There was another very interesting development. Over a year ago, I had blogged about some reckless online behaviour by an elected official in our town, a divorced, closeted man who had sent me full-face, naked pictures of himself without even knowing who I was.
Well, the reckless, naked dude was actually a trustee with our school division and is now fully out as a gay elected official, featured prominently in the local media. He was there as an organizer of the breakfast event. We chatted briefly, shook hands and locked eyes as gay men do. We had worked together years ago on a school committee when we were both "straight" married men and his kids attended my school. He now knows that I'm gay but he still doesn't know that I the guy who he was propositioning online!
After a powerful keynote address by the director of Canada's largest LGBQT organization, I left feeling empowered and energized. I was excited about: (1) being gay and (2) the potential impact that I could have as a LGBTQ role model and leader in my school and beyond.
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how liberating for you! represent with pride!
ReplyDeleteProud of You!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat guy in the water bath looks so YUMMY!
Perhaps some pics of you in your next posts?
I'll take some self-pics soon, as in next week! It's an extremely busy week at work and also with some of the kids' activities.
DeleteSounds like it was quite the positive event for you. Now, not only have you survived coming out and the divorce, you are moving up in your community in stature and respect. Bravo!! The LGBT community needs more people like that!
ReplyDeleteWow! I think you just destroyed whatever remained of your closet. Congratulations and good job! You should be very proud of yourself.
ReplyDeleteDespite all the progress made here in the U.S. I sincerely doubt any such large event with such a broad spectrum of out leaders, and a major school administrator, could take place in half or more of the country. The South and major areas of the Mid-West are still majorly homophobic with elected officials and school hierarchy working to stamp out student gay-straight alliances or any mention of gay issues except in condemnation. No wonder so many of us look to Canada as a locus of sanity!
ReplyDeleteIt's very nice to hear you so up-beat and happy in your new and still-developing place in your local society. Congratulations!
Will, that's an interesting point which I hadn't considered! Support for LGBTQ initiatives is so wide-spread in our town (and I'm sure most places in Canada) that I doubt that any elected official would dare NOT to attend!
DeleteIn the public school system, everyone is working very hard to promote and indeed celebrate diversity, LGBTQ diversity in particular.
The only exception is the Catholic school system which still is as intolerant as ever and is fighting the LGBTQ intiatives every step of the way. Some Catholic school representatives attended the Pride Breakfast but it obviously wasn't sincere; they looked extremely awkward and uncomfortable.
Well done for your stand and attending the event, every person who does, makes society a little better for the whole lgbt community. Even tiny steps can have a massive impact, so congratulate yourself for going.
ReplyDeleteWe've had similar events in this country, or at least the bigger cities, for some time now and has made real differences to the lives of many students. I long for the day when it's common all over America, and indeed, the wider world also.
Thanks for your congratulations, everyone! Just attending a breakfast might seem like a small thing considering the milestones I've achieved so far in my gay journey. But I'm rather proud of myself and of all the courageous young teenagers also attending these small-town Pride events.
ReplyDeleteThis is really awesome, BB! LGBTQ youth so desperately need good role models like you, and I think people, at least in your area, recognize the good you do as an out gay man, a teacher, a father. Congratulations to you, and THANK YOU!
ReplyDeletePeace <3
Jay
nice entry :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Pride! Sounds like you are right in the thick of things these days! So glad things are going well.
ReplyDeleteThe Husband is having knee surgery on Monday so I won't be doing too much this pride (a signing at the Eaton Centre Indigo, a reading at Glad Day Bookstore on Friday the 28th and then marching with Pink Play Magazine in the parade - that's it. Though I guess that's enough :)
Best
Jeffrey
It sounds like you're doing a great deal for Pride. Have fun! I hope your Hubby's knee surgery goes well!
ReplyDeleteBB, saw this and thought of you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.towleroad.com/2013/06/tough-kid-gives-his-gay-eighth-grade-teacher-a-moment-hell-never-forget.html
Peace <3
Jay
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