What do you think?
Rate this book
One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories
From the director of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) comes a new collection of accounts by openly gay and lesbian teachers who tell about their struggles and victories as they have put their own careers on the line to fight for justice. Kevin Jennings is the founder and executive director of GLSEN. He lives in New York City.
301 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
9 people are currently reading
364 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 5, 2019
This was a tough read. I have owned this book for years and could never bring myself to read it. As a retired gay teacher, my reaction to this book is profound. It is incredibly brave and painful, and I was often disheartened and ashamed of how I was not honest in my career. I know it was a different time, but the people who shared their stories in this book all taught in a similar time period. It was only near the end of my career that it became common knowledge that I was a gay man. But I never sat people down and shared that. It was something most just came to discern. I feel bad about the students I let down because I didn't have the courage to come out. With so many young gay people committing suicide because of lack of acceptance, this book is so important for gay people (and allies) currently in the teaching profession. With the backsliding and bigotry of our government, it is especially important to read these stories with respect and admiration.
November 19, 2015
“Are you gay?” About one-in-ten teachers are going to be asked this during their career and one out of every ten teachers has a choice: lie, presumably securing that there is nothing about their personal life that would cause students to not like them, or tell the truth and hope that their students are mature enough to understand their teacher's personal life. One Teacher in 10 tells the story of these teachers through brief personal essays, edited and pieced together by Kevin Jennings. While each essay tackles a different issue that individual teachers face, every contributor could agree that a teacher's personal life has no affect on their teaching ability.
Each author within the book had varying degrees of “outness," some are completely closeted, some are only out to other faculty members and others are completely out to all student and faculty. Unfortunately it was rare that how comfortable a teacher was with their personal life dictated how their coworkers, administration and parents treated them. Unlike in Waiting for Superman (WFS), where teachers could not be fired even if they are underperforming, the rules of firing don't apply to queer teachers. In the case of Kathleen Crawford, an 11 year veteran teacher at a Kentucky Catholic High School who left her husband for a woman she had fallen in love with, it did not matter if she was out or not to the school. Crawford had not told anyone of her new relationship status but her husband, angry about their divorce, went to the school's administration and told them about Crawford's decisions. She was immediately fired. Crawford could not understand the school’s decision. She questions their actions wondering “how could I go from celebrated teacher at the school one day to the next day having my life judged?” (37). Despite how good a teacher they are, queer teachers are going to be followed by stereotypes wherever they teach. Highlighted by the age difference between teachers and students, the specific stereotype of all queer people being pedophiles was a common theme throughout the book. Patricia Lyons, a Catholic school teacher from Kentucky says the Catholic Church “presented homosexuality as our society's most pressing social evil” (74) and for Crawford that was enough to get fired. Besides the irony of the Catholic Church being worried about pedophilia, this is almost the polar opposite of what happened in WFS. In WFS, teachers with sex offender charges could not be fired because of their tenure, while for Crawford being a lesbian was all that was needed to be fired. While suspected pedophilia is certainly not always the reason for queer teachers being fired, it does bring up the theme that a teacher's personal life can be the bases for firing.
The Director of WFS talked about the lengthy process of evaluating a teacher in order to fire them. The Director writes that even if one part of the process is not completed on time, then the whole thing must start over the next year. But for Tarah Ausburn, an elementary school teacher in Phoenix, she was simply told by a school administrator, at the end of the school year, that her contract would not be renewed because of her inability to “deal with children.” Ausburn was fully aware that it was because of her bumper sticker outing herself as a lesbian and informed the reader that “according to our state’s Department of Education guidelines, this was illegal” (107). The administration didn't go through the proper procedure, they ignored all the deadlines and blatantly refused to acknowledge Ausburne’s increased student test scores, attendance and grades. It is often the case that teachers of minority status actually have to work harder to be thought of as equal to their peers; some queer teachers can be doing a better job at their job but because of the lack of job protection they can be fired. This highlights that in some school systems a teacher's personal life is valued more than students' learning; personal biases get in the way of students learning and there is nothing that can be done about it! A teacher who has proven that they are effective in engaging students and increasing their test score can be fired for being a “radical.” It is a disgrace to this country's education system that gender and sexual orientation are more of a means for firing than poor performance.
Often, a teacher's ability to teach is disregarded if they are LGBT+ when the reality is that a teacher's personal life should have no negative effect on their work. Queer teachers can be fired just based on their identity while bad teachers and even criminal teachers keep their jobs because of tenure, valuing a teacher's personal life over their ability to teach students and how much their students can learn. Stepping away from both the book and the movie shines a light on a real issue facing this country's work force: in 31 states it is still legal to be fired based on gender and sexual orientation. ~ Student: Philip B.
Each author within the book had varying degrees of “outness," some are completely closeted, some are only out to other faculty members and others are completely out to all student and faculty. Unfortunately it was rare that how comfortable a teacher was with their personal life dictated how their coworkers, administration and parents treated them. Unlike in Waiting for Superman (WFS), where teachers could not be fired even if they are underperforming, the rules of firing don't apply to queer teachers. In the case of Kathleen Crawford, an 11 year veteran teacher at a Kentucky Catholic High School who left her husband for a woman she had fallen in love with, it did not matter if she was out or not to the school. Crawford had not told anyone of her new relationship status but her husband, angry about their divorce, went to the school's administration and told them about Crawford's decisions. She was immediately fired. Crawford could not understand the school’s decision. She questions their actions wondering “how could I go from celebrated teacher at the school one day to the next day having my life judged?” (37). Despite how good a teacher they are, queer teachers are going to be followed by stereotypes wherever they teach. Highlighted by the age difference between teachers and students, the specific stereotype of all queer people being pedophiles was a common theme throughout the book. Patricia Lyons, a Catholic school teacher from Kentucky says the Catholic Church “presented homosexuality as our society's most pressing social evil” (74) and for Crawford that was enough to get fired. Besides the irony of the Catholic Church being worried about pedophilia, this is almost the polar opposite of what happened in WFS. In WFS, teachers with sex offender charges could not be fired because of their tenure, while for Crawford being a lesbian was all that was needed to be fired. While suspected pedophilia is certainly not always the reason for queer teachers being fired, it does bring up the theme that a teacher's personal life can be the bases for firing.
The Director of WFS talked about the lengthy process of evaluating a teacher in order to fire them. The Director writes that even if one part of the process is not completed on time, then the whole thing must start over the next year. But for Tarah Ausburn, an elementary school teacher in Phoenix, she was simply told by a school administrator, at the end of the school year, that her contract would not be renewed because of her inability to “deal with children.” Ausburn was fully aware that it was because of her bumper sticker outing herself as a lesbian and informed the reader that “according to our state’s Department of Education guidelines, this was illegal” (107). The administration didn't go through the proper procedure, they ignored all the deadlines and blatantly refused to acknowledge Ausburne’s increased student test scores, attendance and grades. It is often the case that teachers of minority status actually have to work harder to be thought of as equal to their peers; some queer teachers can be doing a better job at their job but because of the lack of job protection they can be fired. This highlights that in some school systems a teacher's personal life is valued more than students' learning; personal biases get in the way of students learning and there is nothing that can be done about it! A teacher who has proven that they are effective in engaging students and increasing their test score can be fired for being a “radical.” It is a disgrace to this country's education system that gender and sexual orientation are more of a means for firing than poor performance.
Often, a teacher's ability to teach is disregarded if they are LGBT+ when the reality is that a teacher's personal life should have no negative effect on their work. Queer teachers can be fired just based on their identity while bad teachers and even criminal teachers keep their jobs because of tenure, valuing a teacher's personal life over their ability to teach students and how much their students can learn. Stepping away from both the book and the movie shines a light on a real issue facing this country's work force: in 31 states it is still legal to be fired based on gender and sexual orientation. ~ Student: Philip B.
January 4, 2019
reading this book only a handful of days after the orlando shootings was both a heartwarming & heartbreaking experience. heartwarming because, as a queer person aiming to become a professor, all those testimonies resonated with me and reassured me that i can have a happy ending - that i can be a lesbian while simultaneously being alive, something that i often find difficult to believe when so few older lgbt individuals & role models are available to younger members of the community. heartbreaking because it's so easy - at least for me, a white, gender conforming lesbian - to forget that people really hate us and, more than that, want us dead. i was torn between feeling hopeful for a future in which i can be married to a woman i love and teach what i'm passionate about and knowing full well that the chances of me reaching my thirties are extremely slim. but all in all, this is a wonderful book and i highly recommend it to any queer person, whether or not they are interested in becoming a teacher.
February 9, 2016
This book is almost too depressing to read. It's like a collection of cautionary tales about not becoming an LGBT teacher. Each story is unique and therefore worth reading - you're not just reading 20 stories of teachers experiencing the same thing. Even if being in similar situations, teachers in the book sometimes chose to go very different routes. I finished the book in a day because I'm personally intrigued by the issue and the book gets really depressing sometimes. If there are such severe oppressions happening in the US, it's even harder to imagine being an LGBT teacher in other parts of the world. This book is only for the brave, especially for those who believe that LGBT teachers deserve the same respect we have for heterosexual teachers.
June 4, 2020
Powerful stories from lesbian and gay teachers, on how they faced homophobia in their schools, how they helped LGBT students, and how they came out. The stories were really compelling. The book was published in the 1990s, when it was still legal to fire a teacher for being gay. Things are very different now.
I went to high school in the 1990s, and there was a tremendous amount of homophobia. Very few teachers every spoke out about it, no one condemned people who used offensive language. one girl in my gym class wore a shirt every day that had a gay slur on it, the F word for gay men. Teachers let her do it.
I'm glad things are better now but these stories really show how risky it was for teachers to be out in that time period.
I went to high school in the 1990s, and there was a tremendous amount of homophobia. Very few teachers every spoke out about it, no one condemned people who used offensive language. one girl in my gym class wore a shirt every day that had a gay slur on it, the F word for gay men. Teachers let her do it.
I'm glad things are better now but these stories really show how risky it was for teachers to be out in that time period.
February 1, 2023
Over 30 teachers from all over this country and one from Australia share their stories about accepting themselves as gay/lesbian, and then how they dealt with being honest about that in front of their students and colleagues. The editor, Kevin Jennings, is also credited with founding GLSEN -the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educators Network. I became aware of this book through them. The stories are very moving and I could relate to many of them.
August 2, 2018
Read to prepare for sponsoring middle school GSA this fall. I cried multiple times when reading this. I thought about my daughter and the courage it took to come out.
Read it!
Read it!
September 18, 2018
A nice little book, sometimes upsetting, but not what I was looking for.
October 13, 2018
A compelling collection of LGBT teacher stories-a reminder that context matters, we still have a Long way to go, and the ways the personal is political.
Read
July 17, 2025A
November 16, 2012
This book tells the stories of Gay and Lesbian teachers across the country: their struggles to be accepted, their struggles to help their GLBT students, etc. Most of them discussed their recent comings-out, how difficult it had been, etc.
........................................this book was written in 1994. Almost 20 years ago. I was in sixth grade at Lone Oak Middle School.
With the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and some of the strides we've made in marriage of equality, it's really easy to begin thinking "We've come so far" and get lazy. The truth is, we haven't come very far at all, and we still have a tremendously long way to go. 18 years since this book was written, and I still feel like I'm living in the same world as these teachers. The only difference is that when I turn on the TV, I'm not seeing Seinfeld and Friends.
........................................this book was written in 1994. Almost 20 years ago. I was in sixth grade at Lone Oak Middle School.
With the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and some of the strides we've made in marriage of equality, it's really easy to begin thinking "We've come so far" and get lazy. The truth is, we haven't come very far at all, and we still have a tremendously long way to go. 18 years since this book was written, and I still feel like I'm living in the same world as these teachers. The only difference is that when I turn on the TV, I'm not seeing Seinfeld and Friends.
January 18, 2020
The essays are short, so you could easily read a couple, then set the book aside for a day or two, then come back to read the next few essays -- all without diminishing the impact of the works. I appreciate the diversity of the writers with regard to:
geography (not only do the authors of the essays represent a variety of US states, but also some international essays are included),
age of the teacher,
the number of years the author has been an educator,
type of school they teach/taught at (e.g. rural/urban, public/private, non-denominational/schools with religious affiliation),
sexual orientation,
gender identity, and
racial/ethnic identity.
A few of the essays address how the author's LGBT identity intersects other identities like "feminist" or "person of color."
~bint
geography (not only do the authors of the essays represent a variety of US states, but also some international essays are included),
age of the teacher,
the number of years the author has been an educator,
type of school they teach/taught at (e.g. rural/urban, public/private, non-denominational/schools with religious affiliation),
sexual orientation,
gender identity, and
racial/ethnic identity.
A few of the essays address how the author's LGBT identity intersects other identities like "feminist" or "person of color."
~bint
July 15, 2009
I just finished this book about a minute ago. What an amazing book. This book has inspired me to not hide who I am. That it is only worse when you hide it.(not that I didn't already know that.) It taught me though that you have to wait. I know that from experience as well. It taught me that when students or co-workers ask about my relationship status that I can simply say that I don't want to talk about my personal life. The people who contributed their personal stories are brave and an inspiration. I enjoyed reading their stories. Some of which I can relate to. It has helped me realize that I can become a teacher and still be who I am.
September 10, 2014
I gave this book a 3/5 not because of anything it said or because I was offended or anything. I am both an ally and a teacher and thought this book would be great however I found it extremely boring and rather depressing. We've come a long way in teacher land in order to have LGBT educators feel safe and protected, however I also know that there's still a long way to go. This book had some great stories in them but I also felt like they were all the same story told in a slightly different way. I thought it was wonderful how the teachers stood up for themselves, but I honestly couldn't wait for this book to be over.
August 25, 2012
I remember reading the first edition, and this one's tone is much more hopeful, which is encouraging. I can imagine how difficult it used to be for gay teachers to come out, and even though it still isn't easy, especially at some schools, it's important and necessary. My school used to have several out gay teachers, and students were less homophobic then. Of course it's impossible to tell whether that's a causal relationship, but I'm sure it made a difference.
May 25, 2020
"Homophobia limits the intelligence of humankind." -156
This book is so important for people everywhere to read. If not educators, then everybody else, for we all have the experience of being a student. To hear these stories of triumph, of joy, of sadness, of fear, of disappointment, of betrayal, was an emotional rollercoaster. It shows both how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.
This book is so important for people everywhere to read. If not educators, then everybody else, for we all have the experience of being a student. To hear these stories of triumph, of joy, of sadness, of fear, of disappointment, of betrayal, was an emotional rollercoaster. It shows both how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.
August 15, 2007
The second edition to the first release ten years ago, and way more inclusive, this book includes stories from educators across the country who identify as gay, lesbian, and trans and their experiences working and coming out in the classroom.
August 18, 2007
This book is so honest--raw and so uncensored. When I read this book, I really found myself between the pages. It is a book of guidance, hope, and courage. You will cry. Finally, a voice for teachers like me!
February 11, 2008
As a new educator and newly-out lesbian, I had a lot of thinking to do about how open I wanted to be about my sexuality at work. Reading about the decisions and tactics of others helped me to think about what would be best for me.
August 31, 2015
What a great book! I love how authentic and open the essays were, and I loved seeing the inside of how teachers come out and to what extent. I also appreciated the educators getting into how they're always coming out over and over again. Just an amazing book.
June 19, 2016
as a young gay undergraduate student who is considering going into teaching (and after the tragic events of last week at orlando), i found this book to be incredibly uplifting - it even made me tear up every so often
August 6, 2007
This is a great book for any teachers who are Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. This can help you any fears of coming out and/or deal with any kind of gay bashing in the school system.
August 19, 2007
I read this book because someone I know wrote a piece for it. It was pretty interesting and if you are a GLBT teacher, I would say you should definitely read it.
December 31, 2007
Gay teachers :-)
December 28, 2008
Great teacher coming-out stories. I laughed, I cried.
December 10, 2010
A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die for
June 1, 2014
book's ok, but not great for me, more like an intro to lgbt issues
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews