I am a 20 year old female living in Australia. I'm well on my way to completing a teaching degree and as of next year will be a qualified secondary school teacher. I'm generally a feminine young woman, and by looking at me and maybe even talking to me, you wouldn't suspect that I'm lesbian... But I am. I know that there are homosexual teachers out there; however, I fear that my sexuality may negatively affect my career. Am I not allowed to discuss things relating to my personal life? When I'm in a relationship can I not talk to staff members about my partner? Would my partner be forbidden to attend faculty functions such as Christmas dinners etc., or even school productions and all that? Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
I work in outdoor education, proffesionally to the children and their teachers I stay that presenting a clean cut image and avoiding conversations about my personal life, but I would do that either way. Having said that, otherwise its more of an ask and I'll tell, do my collegues know, of course, do some teachers know, it depends how long we are spending together and how well we get on. Do some of the children know, maybe, maybe not but I can't change that and well I have never had any issues either way. Basically in summoury if your do your job well and proffesionally, wht are they going to complain about.
Well, this really depends on how homosexuality is perceived in your community. I go to university in San Francisco and have taken classes from several openly gay professors here. They talk about their lives, their partners, LGBT-related stuff, etc. and it's completely cool with everyone. Even in classes where my professors are straight, somehow LGBT topics come up all the time still (whether I'm in a literature class or philosophy class or history class). Bottom line, homosexuality is not an issue in SF, so gay professors in SF have no issues, with their students and fellow faculty members alike. My high school was in the East Bay near SF, so it's still in a liberal area. I had two openly gay male science teachers, both of whom were well-received by students and their colleagues. So again, not an issue. The only time that suspected homosexuality in a teacher was an "issue" was in my junior high school. We had a female physical education teacher with a low raspy voice and really short hair. All the immature teenagers would always spread rumors about her being a lesbian and say that she would stare at her female students in the locker room. But that's just teenagers being teenagers. I don't know if I really answered your question, since you seem to be more concerned about how you'll get along with your colleagues, but this has been my experience as a student who has had LGBT professors. Good luck with your teaching career! I highly doubt your sexuality will negatively impact your career that much. It may be more difficult for you to talk openly about things or to have that initial coming out where you let all your colleagues know you're gay, but things should be more smooth sailing after you get over the initial hurdle.
