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This site serves as a place for trans and gender diverse teachers to share their stories. The BC Queer Educators Caucus hopes these stories will underscore the importance of trans representation within our union. If you're here, it means someone probably shared our zine with you. If you're interested in adding your own story you can do so here: submission form. |
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What you see you can emulate
Recreate and become
But what if there is none
You make a guess
Do your best
To Fill the space
What you can’t see you attempt to be
like a seed you become
So now there is one
Alone and unsure
Slowly Growing you endure
Determined to make space
What you don’t see is the reflection
Becomes an invitation
many answered
Like a waterfall
That fills the space
Union spaces have been a lifesaver for me as a young trans teacher. It is difficult just existing as a trans teacher right now, and it was isolating to exist without people to share my experiences with. I felt like I couldn't bring my whole self into the classroom. Union spaces are where I have met every other trans teacher I know. Because of the other teachers I have met through my local and BCTF, I now have other people who I can share my experiences with, talk about how to deal with the transphobia we experience in the class, and just exist as myself. My community gives me strength to go back to my school and be there to support the trans kiddos in my school and be a role model for them.
It took me half a lifetime to realize that trying to be a man was making me depressed. The realization also came to me just as I was beginning my career in education, and I was filled with dread at the thought of being a trans feminine teacher. For a time, I had assumed I would have to live a double life. But then I also realized how miserable I was pretending to be cis. So I put the call out: “What was it like to be a transgender teacher?” What I got was two phone calls and the courage to pursue the only job I have ever truly loved. It makes me proud that both of those people are also strong voices in our union. It makes me proud and it makes me feel like I can be what I am: a trans teacher.
I had to find my voice again when I started my transition. I think it's because I needed the language to articulate who I was. When I first came out to my partner, my now wife, I thought that finding the words to describe my gender meant losing a lot. I was scared I’d lose my relationship, my job and my community. But being a person without words can also be isolating and I’d gotten used to that.
Meeting another trans teacher helped break that isolation. I met someone through union work and through that meeting I learned I wasn’t alone. I also gained the experience of someone who’d walked the path ahead and their mentorship and guidance – there isn’t much in the way of trans mentorship in small town BC – made the way forward a little easier.
Students across BC benefit from the beautiful diversity of BCTF members teaching across the province. Those members are best represented when the Executive Committee is diverse as well. As a queer nonbinary BCTF member working in a community that doesn't always have a lot of queer representation, it has been so wonderful to see a diverse executive over the last few years. The addition of a designated 2slgbtq+ seat felt like such a huge step forward! In addition to the designated seat, it has been so wonderful to have so many queer and gender diverse BCTF executive numbers advocating for teachers. It has made the union feel so much more accessible to queer members and seeing gender diverse folks in leadership positions is empowering. I look forward to seeing our executive continue to be diverse and I hope with all of my heart that the membership continues to elect beautifully diverse humans to be our voices.
For a long time, I felt like I had to apologize for being trans, like I was inconveniencing people too greatly to justify myself. So I kept secrets about all the ways I wanted to be. The Covid-19 lockdown gave me alone time to finally solidify my foundations, away from others’ prying eyes. I still remember my first day back at work wearing a KN95 face mask with eye makeup.
At the same time, even if I felt more like me, I was doing it alone. That changed at a local union meeting. All it took was the age-old “game recognize game” nod of acknowledgement with another member to know that things could change. Since then, I’ve met incredible gender rebels from all over BC. Doing so illuminated lifesaving (and career saving) knowledge of how to get by as a public-facing trans person, and even thrive.
In 2022, one of my closest friends committed suicide. We had gone to high school together. She was my first trans friend, and she helped me realize that I didn’t have to keep trying so hard to fit into the gendered box I’d been given. She was the first person I opened up to about my own transness. I felt lost and alone without her.
Then, in 2023, I saw a memo in my work email about a 2STNB+ staff support group in my school district, and I decided to join. Through that group, I met a handful of trans folks who worked in my local. It was an environment I had never experienced before, surrounded by people who ‘got’ me. I felt seen once again. Some of the people I met in that group were involved in the union and encouraged me to join them, and I’m so glad I did. I would have never considered getting involved in the BCTF and our local union if it weren’t for them. Their leadership inspired myself and others to speak up and stand up for our fellow members.
The trans folks I have met through union spaces have transformed my life for the better. Their presence has helped me feel more affirmed in my identity than ever before: I feel safe with them. I feel normal with them. They help me be a better teacher, a better colleague, a better union member. Their involvement in union spaces draws people out from the woodwork as they set the stage for inclusion and representation. When people feel welcome, when they feel seen, they show up.
Living and working in rural, religious, conservative, small towns is challenging for trans people. Especially trans educators. Public concerns about "parent rights" and "gender ideology" are voiced loudly and openly causing some to remain closeted or gather in secret. A supportive union, both locally and provincially, is key to maintaining the mental health of gender diverse employees. Receiving supportive emails after right-wing blame for the Tumbler Ridge tragedy saying that the union stands with and supports gender diverse educators and seeing that amplified on social media helps tremendously. As did seeing the BCTF support Chilliwack Teachers Association at the Human Rights Tribunal. Although allied support is valued and appreciated, true representation is what is needed. Having a seat at the table to express concerns and share lived experience from any marginalized group is key. If you don't think representation matters, you are probably well represented.