Woman Suspended from Substitution for Simply Being Transsexual

[Zoe of Tamriel]

[Charlize]

No i certainly would not fire her. I think the commentators had a good and reasonable attitude. Thanks for posting.

Hugs,

Charlize

[tracy_j]

It is interesting. I think the commentators have the same attitude as most people - whats the issue! I also think that children should not be shielded from the world, just not shocked with it too greatly but you only need to turn on the news to get bombing, rape, murders and wars which are probably far more shocking.

I remember from my childhood that being gay was treated as a joke by children (this is when being homsexual was still a criminal offence in UK). I cannot remember it being shocking and most children approaching their teens would be aware. Some people (usually male) were very aggressive towards homosexuals but even then most were not really bothered. Violent crime (especially against women or children) had a far greater traumatic effect and I suspect still does.

Tracy

[Guest DesiB]

This one really hits close to home for me. I've been substitute teaching since 2011 with a master's degree and state teaching certification for middle and high school, but I've subbed in all grades from preschool on up at over 60 different schools. I've been placed on preferred substitute teacher lists and was usually able to get work 5 days per week, excluding holidays and snow days. Then, ironically, last November 20th, 2013, as I was getting ready to speak at a local Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony, I found out that I had been banned from teaching in the largest district in my county.

No one had ever confronted me directly or given me any due process. But after lots of run around, I finally sat outside the human resources office until I got to talk to someone in person and found out they had a '3 strikes rule' and two principals had complained about me and banned me from their elementary schools all the way back in 2011 without my knowledge. Somehow, the ban accidentally got deleted and I ended up at one of those schools again for only 1/2 a day, and the principal must have recognized me (I've never met him and wouldn't recognize him if he knocked on my door today) and he apparently wrote up a negative report on me causing a 3rd strike that led to my ban from the entire district--all behind my back with no chance to defend myself against fabricated charges. Months later, we worked out a deal where I could work in the rest of the district, but not at the schools with the most bigoted principals.

Then this year, I had a problem a middle school (where one of the most insubordinate students had a dad who was a coach/teacher and I do not tolerate disruptive students in my classrooms) where I was banned again with no warning and no recourse. So by the end of this school year, the county superintendent banned me from ALL DISTRICTS until I can go in and explain why I was banned previously.

So that's where I stand now. I've talked to an civil rights attorney, but I have nothing to go on because the few bigoted principals are slick enough to do it behind my back and have not given me any reasons or due process at all! My meeting with the superintendent is coming up in a couple weeks where the burden is on me to prove why I deserve to be unbanned. None of this would even be necessary if I could just get someone to hire me for a full-time teaching job. But we'll see how it goes.

[gennee]

Desi, I'm sorry that this is happening to you. I find that some school administrators are nothing more than cowards and bigots.

[Guest DesiB]

It looks like they think they've resolved the issue by giving her a job outside of the classroom. Sadly, this is what I have found to be the the result in almost all cases even when trans teachers go to court and win their jobs back--they still never actually make it back into the classroom to thrive as teachers. That's why I am so thankful for all the positive experiences I have actually had over the past 3 years. I just hope I get to keep going and take it to the next level with a permanent teaching position and don't get taken offtrack by this current setback.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/laura-jane-klug-returns_n_5214503.html

[Guest LizMarie]

This story was posted previously. Since then she was "let go" "due to budget cuts".

[Guest DesiB]

This story was posted previously. Since then she was "let go" "due to budget cuts".

I'm sorry I missed that report. I sure wish there were some more hopeful stories out there.

[Guest DesiB]

It turns out that a few schools have quietly banned me without ever directly informing me or giving me any due process or reason for their action. The superintendent said he did not know why either because he normally gets a file when a teacher is banned from a school so he knows the reason and can take further action to keep bad teachers out of other schools as well. But since he has not received any negative reports or any reasons at all for my removal from those particular schools, he is reinstating me to all the rest of the schools in the consortium. So I guess the bottom line is that anyone who wants to discriminate against me just has to be careful not to give the reason and then they can get by with it. I just hope this does not continue to spread throughout the other schools as well. But I've been doing this for 3 years now since my transition and I have been pretty successful and have even been placed on preferred substitute teacher lists at several schools. Getting hired full-time is my ultimate goal. We'll see.

[Guest LizMarie]

Good luck, Desi. A lot can depend just on where you live. Unfortunately for Laura Jane Klug, she lives in a very unpleasant part of Texas that is openly bigoted not just against LGBT people but also against people of color. Not far from where she lives a black man was dragged to death behind an SUV several years ago. And within the last two years (I can't recall the exact date) another black man was murdered, bludgeoned, stabbed and had his ears cut off... then the local coroner told the family he died of a drug overdose (and he was not a drug user). I hope Laura Jane can find a better place to live where she can do what she loves in peace. And I hope that your community is more supporting than not.