Trans* issues in public education

Never. Gays were only mentioned in passing in sexual health education, but that was about it. Texas schooling here, if it matters.

 

I've never heard about trans people in my school at all

 

Nope, trans* people were never mentioned in all my years of public schooling. I agree that mentioning trans* people in school would be beneficial. Exposing others to the idea of trans* people earlier on will help them become familiar with the idea and it could also help those who may be trans* but confused about themselves during that time.

 

I had a trans* guy in a class with my my senior year of high school. He really was the person that introduced me to trans* people.

I think that it would help a lot. Actually getting it implemented is a whole other thing though. Because you know that there are a ton of people out there that would go after it. (Just look at California.)

 

From where I come (India), sex education was a mere day's topic from a government prescribed textbook. All they talk about is sexual reproduction and contraception, that's it, nothing about sexual orientation. In a deeply conservative society, the mere word "sex", brings a lot of embarrassment.

 

Nope. If anything, I was the only trans* person everyone in my class, senior year, had gotten to know on a personal level. It wasn't fun, and I grew tired of the harassment and trying to play "educator" nearly all the time. I wish there were some sort of education about trans people and gender identity provided in public schooling, preferably earlier on, and in high schools.

I wasn't introduced to trans* people until I had stumbled upon gender identity while browsing on the internet. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have felt as alienated, likely.

 

No, but neither where gay people

 

I didn't even know what it meant to be transgender until I taught myself at 13.

 

I learnt nothing about trans issues in school (I did miss a whole term due to sickness this year, though, so there's a slim chance it was discussed). We didn't even cover same-sex sex. The ignorance about trans issues is astounding; most people don't even know what transgender means.

 

3 close friends of mine are trans* ftm and two other friends are also ftm so I hear about them more often than others. Our school has had a lot of improvements such as a gender queer bathroom that any one can use as long as they ask the administration for a key (im considering doing this but since everyone expects me to be cis gender it might be confusing) also we have some sort of gender queer locker rooms ( I have no idea how this works). One of the students (ftm) has gotten the right to use the bathroom that corresponds to his gender identity (he doesn't feel comfortable using the guys locker room yet). The other two students do not feel it necessary to do this quite yet (they are a few years younger and newer to the whole transition). Personally I think its insane that our school had to go through so much trouble before they had a safe environment.

 

School had nothing. I ended up learning about things from the internet. Not very well though.

 

Heck no, and I'm sort of glad about that...I would hate to have been around to hear some of the things my classmates would have said...

 

That's what I would be afraid of, too, especially from parents who feel their children are being forced into something they don't want them to learn about. Pretty much everything is going to have some naysayers, so the only question is how many and how vicious...

... but this is redeeming!

 

I'm still in school but trans* people are not mentioned nor sexual orientation by teachers (except one time.) Students mention it all the time. So trans* are mentioned at my school, just by the students instead of teachers.

 

Only by me.

 

Not when I went to school either. Though, there was one girl I didn't really know much about that thinking back, I wouldn't be surprised to learn she was FtM or genderqueer. (I worked in the health office at lunch, and mistakenly reffered to her as a boy)

 

Actually, we did talk about it during sex ed at my school. We had a whole lesson on being gay, to start with. And later on when I was about 14 and most of us had heard of trans* and knew a little about it, we discussed it in depth in psychology. We literally spend an entire term on sex and gender and the difference between them, and why people have different gender identities etc etc. however, sadly psychology was an optional class, so not everyone got to learn about it. And I still agree that the school system needs some serious improvements. Nobody my age who I know even knows that asexual, pan sexual, androgynous or any other sexual or gender identity other than L G B and T exist. So i agree wholeheartedly in that respect. Also, it should be a mandatory lesson, not an optional one.

 

Nope, not at all. I only found out about what it was from a documentary with some middle aged trans people, which might in turn have made it take longer for me to figure myself out as I couldn't related to 50 year old people at all. So yeah, we really should start educating these things already from first grade to learn kids to be more tolerant and to inform those of us who would fit under the LGBT banner that it's nothing to be scared of.