Transgender Teacher's Transition Announced by School Robocalls

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/transgender-teachers-transition-announced-by-school-100841145042.html

   
Rachel Bertsche
October 24, 2014, Yahoo news

Mass emails and robocalls to parents are usually about school closings or conferences, but on Thursday, J.W. Mitchell High School principal Jim Michaels had a different sort of announcement: Robert Konrad, a social studies teacher at the Pasco County, Florida, school, was beginning a gender transition. "Mr. Konrad has begun the process of gender transition and is anticipating presenting as a female no later than August of 2015," he wrote in an email, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "

They wanted me to do this. The even tried to bully me into this. This article  is the reason why it was a bad idea. Email travels. Reporters get hold of written documentation and then no longer need the victim's cooperation to write a story.

It was different in my case. A reporter heard about my transition, but without independent confirmation needed me to write her story. I refused and the story went away. This teacher clearly didn't want to cooperate but the article was written anyway, shattering her privacy and making her life and her career a spectacle.

Interesting how the article talks about how supportive the school officials were when their statements consistently misgender her.

There but for the grace go I.

An interesting story.  Almost feels like the old days where RLE came before hormones, deliberately causing public humiliation as a rite of passage.  The robocall seems like the same thing: we'll let you transition, but not before publicly humiliating you while pretending to have your best interests in mind.   Oh, and we hope you'll quit in the process so we don't have to deal with you anymore.

Teachers do have a hard time transitioning.  The classroom can be an unforgiving place (as can uneducated or bigoted parents), although there are teachers who find their students extremely supportive.  I get the distinct impression that the only people who find a teacher's transition a problem are parents; the kids do just fine.

Quote from: Brenda E on October 26, 2014, 07:10:17 AM
The classroom can be an unforgiving place (as can uneducated or bigoted parents), although there are teachers who find their students extremely supportive.  I get the distinct impression that the only people who find a teacher's transition a problem are parents; the kids do just fine.

I haven't had the slightest problem with students or parents. The only people who made my transition hard were my own union (!) and administrators in our school system.

Surprising to hear that your own union was making your transition more difficult.  Not as surprising to hear that the school administrators were a hindrance rather than a help, but it's very encouraging to hear first hand that the parents also didn't mind a teacher in transition.

Disgusting.  Does this ignoranus of an "educator" do this to all of his LGBT faculty or anyone else who seeks treatment for any life threatening medical conditions?  It seems to me that he saw a fire and threw gas on it.  If he were my boss, I would want his head on a stick.

Hi!

I stumbled across this today and was shocked to be "Susans-famous."

The teacher in the article....it's me. Ta-da!

I just wanted to clarify that the district and my administration did nothing without my express approval and have been the absolute best about the process. The newsmedia picked it up and made it harder for a bit, but at the same time, I wanted to stay in the open while this happens. If only I knew of someone who had transitioned when I was 16, 17 I may not have had the experiences I've had (in the negative). So, now my kids (students) know. To be honest, what prompted everything was the kids began asking questions about my appearance....even in boy mode, HRT can be powerful, no?

Quote from: Aus76 on December 14, 2014, 04:51:04 PM
The teacher in the article....it's me. Ta-da!

Hi Cosette, always great to meet another transgender teacher. I'm glad to hear your admin was supportive. Except for the underhanded attempt at getting me to approve a privacy-invading letter, in every other way, my administration was great.

Feel free to PM me if you need someone who can relate.