I always feel so fortunate to live in Oregon. We have the Bottle Bill and get 10 cents back when we recycle our cans, other people pump our gas, there is no sales tax, and the landscape is stunning. And we can say ‘GAY.’

This week Florida’s governor signed into the law the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. This legislation requires that  school districts “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels.”

I am curious if anyone who has worked with young children was actually involved in developing this bill or spent any time in early learning environments. Enter a classroom of young children and the topic of conversation centers on what they hold near and dear to their hearts; their identity and their families. And lots and lots of poop talk! They don’t need ‘encouragement’ to start these conversations; they just happen. 

I owned a preschool from 2010 to 2021, in addition I’ve worked in Head Start, a Montessori program, and a Parent-Child Co-op over the past 24 years. These conversations about our lives and the people we read about spring up organically. It’s developmentally appropriate and typical for young children to be interested in how we are alike and how we are different. Their curiosity is never-ending. 

“Miss Teresa, is that a boy or a girl?” in response to a character in a children’s book.

My typical response is to ask the child what they think.

“Well, they have eyelashes and long hair, so they must be a girl.”

“Hmmmm, I know that all the children and grown-ups in this room have eyelashes. That makes it hard to determine. And I know that people can have all sorts of hair. We don’t really know someone’s gender unless we ask them. It’s tricky when we’re reading a book, isn’t it?”

“Miss Teresa, do you have a husband?”

“No, I don’t have a husband. I have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, okay! Did you know I went skiing this weekend? I went so fast!” 

When I created Aspen Academy, one of my main goals was to provide physical and emotional safety, as well as create a welcoming environment for all children and families in our program. As educators, we concentrated on creating environments that were gender expansive and fluid, where children could express a wide range of emotions, interests, and behaviors that fell anywhere along the gender continuum. We strove to affirm all children and allow them to express their interests and find confidence in their strengths. 

An aspect of affirming all children includes recognition and celebration of their unique families. When selecting children’s literature for my classroom, I intentionally selected books with all sorts of families. Families with a mom and a dad, foster families, conditionally separated families (i.e., one parent incarcerated or serving in the military), same-gender parents, children being raised by their grandparents, and many more. This intentional selection of children’s books served to expose children to families like theirs and families different from theirs. These are the building blocks of fostering empathy, creating empowered future allies, and helping children to become comfortable with human diversity. When educators are prohibited from discussing sexual orientation (or as we say in preschool, ‘who we love and who loves us’), this also prevents us from discussing all family types, including ones with mixed-gender parents.

Regardless of personal belief, all families want children to feel happy and safe. Conversations around gender identity or family composition did not involve discussion of sexual activity or behavior. Gender is what is in our hearts and in our minds, not necessarily what is between our legs. 

Ahead of signing the law, DeSantis said teaching kindergarten-aged kids that “they can be whatever they want to be” was “inappropriate” for children.  He said, “It’s not something that’s appropriate for any place, but especially not in Florida.”

I am grateful that in Oregon we support children in developmentally appropriate ways to follow what they know is true for themselves in their hearts and in their minds. In Oregon, we celebrate families. In Oregon, we trust children. 

Resources for Additional Support

Welcoming Schools Book Lists

“If you like the idea of having a woman that hates boys iwn s Preschool and try to brainwash them to hate their penis, then this is the perfect school.”

As an out lesbian who owns and operates a preschool where children are encouraged and supported in being their authentic selves, it’s not surprising a formerly enrolled parent would post nonsensical ramblings on social media about the school (several years after the family’s children were enrolled). Such transparency and activism likely make me and my work a target for misguided anger. Perhaps a more troubling question ~ What is happening in these children’s lives that led their parent to post this vitriol years later? 

As a college educator who is passionate about the quality of one’s writing, let me start by offering some writing feedback:

• “that hates boys” – This should be “who hates boys.”
• “iwn s” – in? 
• “Preschool” – This should be lower-cased, unless of course, you are referring to my school by its proper name.
• “hate their penis” – It sounds like the author is referring to multiple boys, therefore I would be training them to “hate their penises.” I can’t imagine the author is using the pronoun “they” to refer to an individual person and not a group. 

Oddly, I cannot ever recall brainwashing preschoolers… I’m lucky if I can get them to keep their fingers out of their noses, let alone “brainwash” them. And brainwashing those college students is even more difficult! I dream of brainwashing them to read the syllabus in its entirety and to follow proper APA formatting. If I could brainwash people, I would certainly use my ‘mind control’ for the betterment of society, not to teach “genital hatred.”

When I created my preschool, one of my main goals was to provide physical and emotional safety, as well as create a welcoming environment for all children and families in our program. As educators, we concentrate on creating environments that are gender expansive and fluid, where children can express a wide range of emotions, interests, and behaviors that fall anywhere along the gender continuum. We strive to affirm all children and allow them to express their interests and find confidence in their strengths.

Regardless of personal belief, all parents want their children to feel happy and safe.  Conversations around gender identity do not involve discussion of sexual activity or behavior. Gender is what is in our hearts and in our minds, not necessarily what is between our legs.

We will continue to support an environment of honest, child-led conversations. Children at this age have a lot of questions and engage in natural exploration on a variety of what adults may perceive as sensitive topics, like gender and death. These conversations are developmentally typical, regardless of participating in an early learning environment supporting gender fluidity and expansiveness. 

With that, we also believe in adhering to the best practices of our field. Our conversations around gender are developmentally appropriate and guided by information gained from the NAEYC, the AAP, and APA.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” ~ Maya Angelou ~

My favorite book lists for young children regarding gender:

• Challenging Gender Limits with Picture Books
• Great Diverse Children’s Books with Transgender, Non-Binary and Gender Expansive Children

Seventeen years ago, next month, I left my husband because I knew in my heart I was attracted to women. Yet, I’m still not ‘out’ in academia.

I own a preschool and live above the school with my wife. When I originally opened the preschool, I was advised to keep my gayness on the down-low. I desperately wanted people to enroll in my program and they certainly did not need to know I am a lesbian. Neither did I feel comfortable having books in my school library related to LGBTQ themes (even though I owned them) – Heather Has Two Mommies or And Tango Makes Three.

Visiting families might ask, “Is your husband background checked?” or “What does your husband do?” Then I would share that my wife is background checked as part of our licensing requirement. My sexual orientation also makes for a great filter of potential families. If you don’t feel comfortable with your child having a teacher in a same-sex relationship, then you’ll likely not feel comfortable with other aspects of our program. The tours either quickly ended or parents were delighted to find such diversity in our town. In some ways it became easier once same-sex marriage was federally legalized. “I live upstairs with my wife.”

This past year has been a journey. Our program supported a family as their preschooler publicly transitioned genders. While sexual orientation and gender identity are two entirely different concepts, they are often merged together through our ever-expanding alphabet-soup acronym – LGBTQIA. If a family had issue with our support of a child transitioning gender, what did they think of me? While our journey of celebration and support for our preschooler who is transgender will be the topic of a future blog post, it’s influenced my thoughts on the importance of visibility moving forward.

In my college classes, I’ve always been somewhat closeted. When I first starting teaching in the early-2000s, I recall going to the director of the preschool I was working in (it was a lab school on a University campus) and sharing that I had begun dating women. I wanted her to hear it from me, instead of from a concerned family.

When I moved to another University several years later, a few of my mentor teachers were closeted. I assumed that was just what you did. Don’t ask, don’t tell. Granted, the campus was fairly conservative. I was also hindered by my own youth on a college campus where the average student age when I started was 32. I was nowhere near my thirties! I didn’t need yet another reason for students to discredit my teaching. I was mindful to use gender-neutral language when referring to my life. “We went camping this weekend” or “My partner and I bought a house.” A handful of students knew I was in a same-sex relationship – those in leadership positions in the Human Development Club that I advised and a handful of teaching assistants. Students who spent way too much time in my office to continue to bother with the façade.

Then I briefly stepped away from academia when I moved back to my hometown to open a progressive preschool. A hometown that has not always been LGBTQ-friendly. A hometown where I didn’t feel comfortable walking down the street holding hands with my wife. A hometown where I was verbally assaulted for being a lesbian long before I ever knew I was attracted to women. There was no question in my mind that my gayness had to be on the back-burner.

Before long, I was teaching at our local community college and another four-year University. Again, I was using gender-neutral, closeted language. A handful of out LGBTQ students have found me, not to be fooled by my clever use of words.

I’m tired. I’m tired of using gender-neutral language to refer to someone who is legally my wife. I’m tired of avoiding authentic, organic conversations with my college students before and after class about our personal lives. I can be out to 4-year-olds and their families, but not to my college students. I recently had a college intern at my preschool refer to my wife as the “woman who works upstairs.” While my preschool library now has books like Jacob’s New Dress and Introducing Teddy, I somehow can’t bring myself to be out in academia.

Enough is enough. I’m done.

My college students need to see me as an out lesbian who works with young children. And that it’s okay… And that my preschool families embrace us… Is my program the right fit for everyone? Of course not. But for a large portion of the population, my sexual orientation is irrelevant and may even serve to strengthen my awareness of issues related to gender, sexual orientation, and a multitude of other non-majority groups.

This is why when an email came through last week from our University’s new diversity coordinator to volunteer to staff a booth at our local Pride festival, I volunteered. Sign me up. Growing up in this town, there was no Pride festival. If one future or current college student sees me on that day, and I can change one life by simply being visible and proud, then it will be worth it. I look forward to the journey ahead….

You can’t be what you can’t see…

(M.W. Edelman)