How many of you are in or plan on going into careers relating to kids/education? I would love to hear your experiences and observations! Also, if you know of any resources for transgender teachers, feel free to point them out, as resources for transgender teachers seem to be rather few and far between.

I'm currently going to college to become a middle school teacher-- I'm out as trans/genderqueer to the education department at my college (who don't quite comprehend the situation, but don't overty have a problem with me or my trans status), but not at the schools I do my teaching field experiences at. I'm living and going to college in a super-conservative part of the midwestern U.S., which isn't exactly an ideal place to be transgender at all, much less a transgender pre-service teacher. However, I intend to move out and start teaching in a bigger city on the (north)western end of the country (looking at Portland, OR and Denver, CO-- maybe Seattle, if I can find a good grad school in that area) once I have my bachelor's degree.

The hardest thing, though, is figuring out how I will balance my teaching and my gender situation. I only plan to transition part-way (by taking T but not having any of the surgeries), which will place me in an awkward spot in the professional world. Even in a more open-minded city, I'm afraid I'll have troubles finding a teaching job when I so clearly blur gender lines. I identify as genderqueer/androgynous, but am more than happy to present as a man while teaching for the sake of simplicity. Nevertheless, due to only partially transitioning, I would pretty much need to be open about my trans status (wouldn't I?). My ID will still say I'm female, and I am simply unable to bind 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 9 months of every year until I retire-- my ribs would collapse in no time flat! I'm hoping this won't make it completely impossible for me to get a job.

Have any of you found yourselves in similar scenarios (or known someone who has been)? It would be great to hear how others have coped with similar situations-- or for that matter, simply to hear from other transgender teacher-sorts out there so we can see that each other exist!

I'm going into psychology research, and therefore I will most likely end up as a professor (that is, IF I get my PhD...). I currently tutor special needs kids one-on-one in reading and critical thinking skills, but I don't think I have the guts to teach a classroom below the university level. I'm not out at my job, since it's just a summer position and I'm still not presenting how I want full-time. I think I am going to be out about my trans status when I go off to grad school and hopefully as I advance beyond that.

At my university, there was at least one trans professor who I know of, which gave me a little bit of courage for the future. I too would like to hear others' experience with this.

Oh my goodness, I want your summer job. I LOVE tutoring.

But anyways, we have a trans professor at my college as well-- kind of fantastic, considering where I live. She aparently had tenure before she transitioned. I haven't met her (yet), but I hear she's kind of amazing. I don't know of any trans K-12 teachers in my area, though I know of a few in other parts of the country.

Hopefully there are some schools out there that are willing to hire me on the basis of simply being a good teacher, regardless of gender.

I had applied to do my teacher training for adult and post 16 education...I need to get a few you know, really minor things out of the way first but I do intend on doing my teacher training. I was in the position before I found out I didn't get a place of considering deferring for a year...in the end things worked out ok, I get to concentrate on my transition and lay some foundations for applying again in a year or so time.

I teach at the college level, so I'm no help there. But unless you're teaching at the Harvey Milk School or someplace like that, I think you're going to have a very tough time.

You say that you would have no problem presenting as male at work...except that you aren't going to bind, and your identification says you're female. I really don't think that's going to work.

You don't say anything about presenting as female. So...would you have a problem presenting as a female with a deeper-than-usual voice? It sounds like you haven't started HRT yet. Your voice might not change all that much, but it's more likely that it will change quite radically, perhaps even get into the baritone or bass range. In this scenario, you would also have to shave quite religiously.

Of course, you could also go the Jennifer Miller route, but I don't know how that would go over in a middle school. Not well, I suspect. People like clear-cut categories.

Tenure for university professors is fast becoming a dead letter item.  Most of the PhDs I know are 'gypsy teaching' doing a class here, two over there, one somewhere else - lots of commuting on your own dime, no office, no staff, no tenure, no long-range security, no real university facility privilege, and worst of all you can teach 4 classes a semester, do two semesters a year and have a real, real hard time breaking $20K after taxes.  The number of tenured professors is about 1/3 the number it was in 1980.  So I'd think real, real, real hard about going into $100K of debt for less than $20K a year in earnings.

Even worse though is public school teaching where each school district (there are over 13K in the US) are totally independent, and tend to be run by the more conservative factions in the community.  They tend to hire the least controversial choices, not the more controversial ones.  So, for the few districts that might hire LBGT teachers, the competition is pretty intense.

Depending on who I talk to, I've gotten every answer from "You'll never get a teaching job; just give up now," to "You'll be fine, don't worry-- schools will love you no matter what your gender is!" I'm pretty sure the truth is somewhere more in the middle of those two extremes, but it's rather confusing to guage what I'm up against when no one seems to know quite what the climate is for transgender teachers. It's like playing Russian Roulette, almost.

I would really rather not present as female at all, if that's a possibility. I suppose in theory I could, but I suppose in theory I could simply go without transitioning at all-- but that doesn't mean it would be be comfortable for me.

If I was physically capable of binding every day while teaching, I would. I'm pretty sure I'm not physically capable of doing that, though. The most I can do long-term without suffocating/immobilizing myself is layer sports bras, which is is enough for me to feel comfortable in my own body, but not enough for me to really pass as male.

As for documentation, is there any way to have gender markers changed without surgery? I don't think so, from what I've gathered, but I don't know.

I wish hiring transgender teachers could just be kind of a non-event for schools. Something that happens-- no big deal. But it seems society really isn't there, yet. I wish I could just walk in the door as myself and teach, and never have to make a big deal about my gender (hiding it OR coming out). I know that's a pretty unrealistic thing to hope for at this point in time, though.

Quote from: Crow on June 08, 2010, 10:22:34 PMIt's like playing Russian Roulette, almost.

I rather suspect that you get better odds in Russian Roulette.

Seriously, I suggest that you do some googling and see what you come up with. I think you'll find that teachers who transition on the job invite a world of trouble; I'm not sure about teachers who have already transitioned or teachers who present in a way that most people would read as, I don't know, "conflicting."

If your chest is really small, you might be able to get away with presenting as male...except your documentation says "F." I don't know how that would play out.

Until people begin to understand that trans teachers aren't loathsome perverts, folks like us have a tough time in the schools. Just read the news.

Maybe you should get in touch with some trans legal people, some teachers' unions, and the ACLU. Do you plan to teach in public or private schools?

Prepare for the worst, work toward the best possible outcome, and always have a backup plan. That way, you won't be taken by surprise.

I'm alright teaching in public or private schools-- wherever I can get hired, really. I would especially love to work somewhere with a diverse group of students, but seeing as I plan on teaching English as a New Language in a big city, that's pretty much a given. XD I suppose public is what I'm aiming for, but I'm fine and dandy with private as well, if that's what happens to work out for me.

How might I go abouts getting in contact with these organizations you speak of?

Also, there are a few supporting professors in the education department at my college who I can try talking to some more as time goes on. I mean, the education department at my college isn't exactly a haven for knowledge about LGBT issues, but usually if I ask around enough, I can get something resembling an answer. It's reassuring that I've yet to encounter any kind of blatent transphobia there (seeing as I'm in a VERY conservative state),-- a lot of garden-variety ignorance, but no "Ew, you're a disgusting pervert, stay away from kids," or even "No, it's not appropriate to wear a tie while teaching-- go put on a blouse." More just, "Uhhhhhhh, you're a what, now? I don't think we have any resources for that, but you could check with so-and-so." (I got referred to a lot of so-and-sos. Thus far, only one of them has proven to be a particularly useful resource, but that's better than nothing!)

Quote from: Crow on June 09, 2010, 01:37:51 AMHow might I go abouts getting in contact with these organizations you speak of?

Unions, I have no clear idea. I just threw that out there. ACLU is easily googled, of course. Trans legal specialists...I know of TLC (Transgender Law Center) out here in California and their sister organization TLPI (Transgender Law and Policy Institute). There's also Lambda Legal--I think they do some trans stuff. If you google "transgender" and "legal," you should get some other hits.

Someone once mentioned an LGBT professors group of some kind, but that was for college teachers and I don't remember the reference anyway. But there must be some kind of advocacy group specifically for LGBT teachers...in fact, a friend of mine recently mentioned some kind of annual conference of LGBT teachers. And doubtless there are online forums.

I often wonder what would happen if parents with an LGBT kid yanked him out of class because they didn't want him to be taught by--horrors--a straight cisgender person. After all, most sex offenders are straight and cis, right? Yeah, see? Bad influence. Perv. Not MY kid!