Stop Calling Us Groomers and Quit Making Us Your Prey
Obergefell. As I said to a fellow teacher in a workshop recently when she said she was “not entirely comfortable talking about gay lifestyles,” it’s a life, not a lifestyle.Merriam Webster defines the verb groom as “to get into readiness for a specific objective.” Now the epithet being thrown at LGBTQ+ rights supporters (and LGBTQ+ teachers) is “groomer.” How ugly, how infuriating.
There are hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ educators like me; we have enriched countless children’s lives whether some folks want to acknowledge that or not.
We are educators who chose the path to teach, to light the way for the next generation.They think we see children are prey? That’s dim-witted and dangerous thinking.
We have braved homophobia. We have braved economic downturns, active shooter drills, pandemic teaching, and dismissive attitudes about our chosen profession.
