Queering Education: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Teaching, Queer Pedagogy, and Real Classroom Practice

This year, queer educators didn’t just survive — we built something that can outlast the moment. 🌈 In this reflective solo episode, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) revisits the major themes that shaped 2025 for LGBTQ+ teachers: quiet resistance, authentic storytelling, and the radical act of joy. From the Teaching While Queer Educators Conference to episodes that redefined advocacy, Bryan invites...

This episode is for educators — especially queer teachers, principals, and school leaders — who care deeply about real inclusion and belonging. Bryan Stanton (they/them) unpacks how well-intentioned “inclusive” classroom practices often end up reinforcing Christian dominance, sidelining Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, and secular families. Together, we’ll examine how public schools perpetuate cultural eras...

 For music and performing arts educators striving to create affirming spaces for every student — this episode is for you. Bryan (they/them) sits down with Dr. Justin Caithaml) (they/them) , Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Bridgeport, to explore how gender, sexuality, and policy intersect in the music classroom. Together, they unpack how queer educators can balance authe...

This episode is for teachers, school leaders, and DEI facilitators who want to create more inclusive classrooms while navigating fear, burnout, and systemic bias. Bryan (they/them) talks with Sean McGill (he/him) — a Chicago-based educator, anti-bias facilitator, and doctoral researcher — about what it means to teach, train, and show up authentically as a queer man across classrooms, police academ...

This episode is for school librarians, elementary educators, and district leaders who want to create truly inclusive and affirming library spaces—without fear or burnout. Bryan (they/them) sits down with Bec Anderson (they/them) , a nonbinary librarian from Kansas, to talk about what “Reading the Rainbow” really means, how librarians can push back against book bans, and why visibility matters in s...

What does real allyship look like when the stakes are high? In this powerful episode, Bryan (they/them/elle) talks with Françoise Thenoux (she/ella) — also known as @ TheWokeSpanishTeacher — about how educators can move from performative allyship to courageous co-conspiracy through inclusive, non-binary Spanish language and classroom practices. 🌈 You’ll hear: How non-binary and gender-neutral Spa...

What does it mean to be a queer teacher in a faith-based school? In this episode of Teaching While Queer, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) sits down with author and ritual designer Bill Hulseman (he/him) to explore his path from Catholic school teacher to educational leader to full-time ritualist and writer. • Navigating authenticity and inclusion as a gay man in Catholic education • How ritual, fai...

In this special episode of Teaching While Queer , host Bryan Stanton (they/them) reflects on the inaugural Teaching While Queer Educators Conference , held on October 11, 2025—a global gathering of queer educators, allies, and advocates transforming education through authenticity and collective care. • “Belonging isn’t just entering the room—it’s redesigning it.” • How storytelling became a tool f...

“I had to become a fully integrated person—same at home, same in class, same everywhere—or I couldn’t keep teaching.” In this powerful conversation, Bryan sits down with Rodney Wilson, the Missouri educator who founded LGBTQ+ History Month and made history as the first openly gay K–12 Missouri teacher to come out to his students. Together, they unpack the intersections of queer identity, teaching,...

They called him a danger just for existing as a gay teacher—then they went after his students. In this powerful replay, Kentucky Teacher of the Year Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. shares his story of being relentlessly targeted by groups like Moms for Liberty and the systemic failures that put queer teachers and students at risk. From book bans and “parental rights” laws to death threats and hara...

Queer teachers face double scrutiny—and yet our visibility can be the lifeline students need. In this conversation, Spanish teacher Timothy Chavez (@CommunicativeTeacher418) shares what it means to bring queerness into the classroom—not as a lesson plan, but as a lived truth. With over a decade in education, Timothy opens up about navigating scrutiny, reclaiming inclusive language in Spanish, and...

Self-care isn’t bubble baths — for queer teachers, it’s survival in a world trying to push us out of classrooms. In this solo episode of Teaching While Queer , host Bryan Stanton (they/them) lays out what authentic, practical self-care looks like for LGBTQ+ educators navigating burnout, political attacks, and the daily emotional labor of being visible in schools. You’ll learn: Six concrete self-ca...

Celebration is advocacy—and when queer educators gather, we refuse to be erased. In this solo episode, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) shares everything you need to know about the upcoming Teaching While Queer Queer Educators Conference 2025, happening October 11th, National Coming Out Day. This isn’t just another professional development event—it’s a day of community, courage, and celebration wher...

Queer educators are not just teaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—they’re living it, every time they step into the classroom. This episode is for every teacher who’s ever asked, “How do I teach justice when my own visibility feels at risk?” We dive into the power of teaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) through a queer lens. This episode explores how LGBTQ+ teache...

“If we don’t tell queer history, students grow up with fake education—and fake history is the foundation of oppression.” In this episode, Robert Keston, President & CEO of the Stonewall National Museum Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale, shares how queer educators can resist erasure and fight for visibility in schools. From his activism during the AIDS crisis to leading one of the large...

Sometimes the most impactful lessons happen far from a traditional classroom. In this conversation, comedian, writer, and educator Tim Murray shares what it’s like teaching improv and stand-up comedy inside rehab facilities — from working with queer teens navigating anxiety and identity to setting boundaries with adults. We talk about what authenticity really means for LGBTQ+ teachers, why joy and...

“You don’t have to be perfect to be inclusive—just keep trying, keep listening, and keep loving your students fiercely.” Back-to-school season is here, and for queer teachers, the first weeks can feel like both an opportunity and a battleground. In this episode of Teaching While Queer, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) shares proven strategies to create a classroom where every LGBTQ+ student—and ever...

Queerness isn’t just what we are—it’s how we teach, breathe, and survive, even when the world tries to shut us down. In this solo recap, Bryan Stanton (they/them) unpacks Maya Gonzalez’s transformative approach to education, creativity, and queer resilience—rooted in four decades of lived experience as a queer femme artist, educator, and creator of the Gender Wheel. Whether you’re a queer teacher,...

“I’m a queer educator who teaches queerly about queer stuff—everything is queer-focused for me.” How do you bring your whole queer self into teaching when schools still expect you to hide? In this episode, Maya Gonzalez—pioneering queer children’s book author and creator of the Gender Wheel—reveals what it means to be deeply, unapologetically queer as an educator. Drawing from decades of living an...

“If other teachers get to do it, why can’t I?” Band director Rachel Colby lives this question every day as a proudly out bisexual teacher in rural Virginia. In this episode, we dive deep into the joys and risks of LGBTQ+ visibility in schools, the daily dance between honesty and self-protection, and why setting boundaries with students is an act of love—not fear. You’ll hear: The real stories behi...

"If other teachers can show off their families, why can’t I have a photo of my wife on my desk?" What does authentic queer visibility really look like in schools where “everyone is welcome” can spark controversy? In this candid conversation, bisexual band director Rachel Colby shares the real-life highs and lows of being out as an LGBTQ+ teacher in rural Southwestern Virginia. We dive in...

“If we’re surpassing the safety of children to satisfy community attitudes, then we’re failing—period.” This episode of Teaching While Queer dives deep into the lived realities of queer teachers and LGBTQ+ allies fighting for truly inclusive schools in 2025. Drawing on Bryan’s conversation with Josh Qua, a queer educator and special education coordinator in New Orleans, we tackle the urgent need f...

If you’re more uncomfortable with two dads at Pride than with hate signs outside a school, you’re missing the real danger for queer kids. In this raw, urgent episode, two LGBTQ+ educators pull back the curtain on the real cost of “otherness” in America’s classrooms. We go deep on how queer teachers navigate the Bible Belt, what happens when mentioning LGBTQ+ even gets banned, and why true inclusio...

“Our presence in the classroom is revolutionary, even if all you do is show up with your nails painted.” In this powerful episode, we dive deep with Lisa Salvador (she/they) and Dr. Fran McLean (she/they), two out queer educators whose work in graduate mental health programs is shaking up what it means to be visible, caring, and unapologetically themselves in higher ed. Join us as we unpack why qu...

“I didn’t always get the lesbian nod—but I’ve always been a queer teacher.” In this heartfelt Pride Month conversation, Brian sits down with Fran McClain and Lisa Salvadore—partners in life and the classroom—to explore how their queerness shapes their work in higher education, mental health, and sex education. This episode is for every LGBTQ+ teacher who's ever felt unseen, every student who...