An elementary school teacher recently came out of the closet, and as part of anti-bullying week, he chose to share a letter one of his young students wrote to him after he announced that he is gay.
The teacher, who has asked to be referred to simply as “Mr. R,” asked his students if they had heard the word “gay” being used as an insult. Almost every small child in his class raised their hand. When he asked if being gay was a bad thing, almost the same number of children said they thought it was. Mr. R. explained to the children that when they use the word gay, they are talking about him.
Several days after Mr. R. decided to speak about being gay with his students, a letter appeared on his desk:
The letter in its entirety reads:
“Dear Mr R
Even though you’re gay, I will always treat you the same way as I do now. I still think about you the same way as I used to. You’re a great teacher and these are just some of the word’s (sic) that I would describe you as: great, amazing, fantastic, brilliant, awesome and brave.
The reason why I say brave is because you shared a personal secret which was very brave.
You don’t have to feel scared because I know that everyone in the class feels the same way as I do.
From A x x
PS. We are all proud of you”
When Mr. R. confronted the nine-year-old girl to thank her for the touching letter that brought him to tears, she just shrugged, said, “It’s just your life,” and continued with her school work.
Now if only Mr. R. could convince adult homophobes that being gay has nothing to do with them, we could celebrate an even bigger victory.
