JDog's Journal

[Hope67]

HI Jdog,
That is very positive - it is very heart-warming to hear that.  A safe place - and you are part of that safety haven for your students. 
to you Jdog.
Hope 

[Deep Blue]

Sorry it took me a couple days to see this Jdog! I love that! I've had 3 students who were transgender.  There is one this year that is also non-binary but they are not in my class.

I have a sticker on my door that welcomes all those of the lgbt community and I love that your school is a safe place 

[Jdog]

Thanks for your kind words, Hope BH and DB.  The evolution of thinking is slow, and even in my school ( no bastion of liberalism, BTW), we have much work to do.  The next real task is to educate some of our teachers, particularly the older ones who are tasked with teaching sex Ed.  The new sex ed lessons explicitly discuss gender identity and I have become aware that some teachers are not covering this as required.  We met and discussed this in our LGBTQ club meeting.  Hoping for support from admin as we tackle this tough issue. 

[Deep Blue]

I feel ya girl!   

Some of our psych texts are very out of date.  The DSM-IV was simply incorrect and marked homosexuality as a mental disorder.  Obviously not the case. Lucky I have more books with the DSM-5 now.

[Jdog]

Good - glad DSM 5 info is in your books now.   California's health requirement specifies that students become aware of all types of gender and  and sexual identity identification and it is apparently most distressing to some of the older teachers tasked with including this in the biology curriculum.  I expressed my dismay to our principal this morning, as not teaching to the standards is plainly not acceptable.

[Deep Blue]

My thoughts exactly 

[Jdog]

I am here to celebrate the fact that I took a big chance and sent a snail mail letter to what I hoped was the address of a long lost cousin, giving her my email address.  She wrote back today - a wonderful thing, considering how socially conservative my family is ( my being lesbian isn't accepted by many of them).  I really like this cousin and am thrilled that she wrote me.  As an only child whose parents are dead and with no children of my own I do value having SOME family in my life. 

So, it's a big day for me.

[woodsgnome]

  Cool! May the tidings continue on their upswing for you. And in the tidings, a dollop or more of hope that you will find at last find someone who will finally understand and, more important, accept you unconditionally. 

[Wattlebird]

Nice, it's good to see their not all so "conservative " my niece just come out and my parents generation are finding it difficult to accept, although they haven't disowned her or anything, are just baffled and think she's trying to be trendy (eye roll)
I'm glad for you and hope it develops into a healthy family connection 

[Jdog]

Woodsgnome-

Thanks so much for the well wishes.  My dear Auntie from the other side of the family was the one who accepted me unconditionally and even spoke up when fellow memebers of her Lutheran Church expressed dismay or disgust about gay folks.  Sadly, she passed in January of 2017.  But maybe others, some of whom I may not even know yet, will be more understanding also. 

Wattlebird-

Haha.  Yes, we gays are so trendy.  Hard to even keep up with our next trends.   I wish good things for your niece.  I don't know her age but the high schoolers and your adults with whom I have contact are so much freer than oldersters like me.  Not that the political situation here in the states is all that supportive, quite the contrary.  But apparently 67% of Americans are in favor of gay marriage, which is a huge change from ages past.  I don't know the situation in your country, but perhaps it's much the same. 

[Wattlebird]

Yes we got to vote on gay marriage last year or maybe 2016, the yes vote won easily and it was leagalised, my adult children where horrified that when we went to school if you were gay you were bullied (a lot). So looks like progress here, they had several gay friends at school and no one thought anything of it, and it is a Church run school.
I think it quite tolerant here, although a gay friend of mine said he still gets called faggot occasionally so there's still some homophobes around.

[Hope67]

Hi Jdog,
It is lovely to read your good news about your cousin.  That is a wonderful thing.   
Hope 

[Jdog]

Wattlebird-

That's wonderful news that your country is so supportive of gender identities and various sexual preferences.  And to have a Church school be so cool about it.,..wow.

Hope and BH-

Thanks for the encouragement and for being happy with me.  I was very open with cousin in my follow up email, mentioning how long my wife and I have been married, etc. and now I hope I haven't ruined the chances for further contact.  But I am too old to go back into the closet.  So, hoping for the best.  And, I really think she had a long term lesbian partner too - hiding in plain sight as it were.

[Hope67]

Hi Jdog,
I hope that you'll have a further positive reply from your cousin.   
Hope 

[Jdog]

Thanks, Hope.  I wish I didn't put so much stock in her response or non response.