Proud Educators + Youth Voices is born!

On May 3rd, the Proud Teacher Initiative organized its first dialogue with young people at Essex Street Academy about the importance of LGBTQ+ role models in their school community. Four members of the LGBTQ+ club participated in this discussion, moderated by their social studies teacher and PTI member Maurice Blackmon. Within the conversation, a central theme that was continuously voiced by these students was the impact that LGBTQ+ educators can have in making students feel “safe”. They described at length much of their experiences of checking whether they felt “okay” being themselves in front of classmates, and how the presence of upfront conversation around LGBTQ+ identity provided them a sense of safety in their classrooms.

Members of the Proud Teacher Initiative were so energized by this dialogue, we began a new PTI project that we will call Proud Educators + Youth Voices. This project will host 3-4 Youth Speak Out roundtables this coming school year, which are opportunities for queer youth and queer educators from different schools to come together to discuss, in a safe space, challenges and triumphs about their identities and lives. The first of these events will be on October 16th, 2019 with students from 3-4 different school communities. They will discuss “What is it list to be an LGBTQ+ student in New York City in 2019?” If you are interested in learning more about this project, please use the contact us page for more information.