Gay and new to the profession, seeking ethical advice

I'm an intern teaching at a Title 1 high school. The experience has been exciting/exhausting/empowering/frustrating in all the usual ways, but I keep coming across a problem that I don't know how to address, that being that I'm a lesbian. I'm not particularly butch (nearly every time I come out I get the whole "I couldn't even tell!" spiel) so I doubt that any of my students or colleagues have realized. I can't really get a good feel for the school's attitude toward LGBT teachers; a couple weeks ago I overheard a teacher having a (very loud) argument with a student about a homophobic social media post the teacher had made publicly, but there is also an active GSA and little GLSEN stickers on a lot of doors. I'm hesitant to talk to my mentor teacher about this out of concern that she may no longer be comfortable mentoring me.

Also, recently our admin made some really poor choices regarding a trans student's privacy and dignity, and the school chose to sweep the entire matter under the rug rather than deal with it in any meaningful or restorative way.

I'm working in the South, if that counts for anything. My students are often offhandedly homophobic (slurs and the like) and I treat it like regular bullying, but I'm wondering if I am obligated, not only as a teacher, but as a gay person, to be more upfront about why it bothers me. My sister, a seasoned teacher and a straight woman, cautioned me to be neutral as possible and operate under a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but that irks me on a deeply personal level. Part of my excitement at entering the profession was being the adult role model that I never had as a young gay student, and now I get the feeling that this simply isn't in the cards.

How do you and your school handle LGBT+ teachers and students? If you are LGBT+, what has worked best for your classroom and your interactions with students? Am I restricted by law of what I can and cannot say? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

And I guess the question that eats at me the most... if that teacher who made the social media post starts running his mouth again, what should I do?

Submitted September 20, 2021 at 04:47PM by henriettalackx https://ift.tt/2Zb5PCZ