Do you think it's right for a teacher to be openly out as gay to their students?

I don’t really know what grindr is. Is it just a dating site or is there more to it? If it’s just a dating site… Are there heterosexual teachers who are on dating sites too?

@lillycoyote
So is shows how close other gay guys are that also use Gindr and is used to hook up with them.

No, a teacher should not tell their students that they are gay, just like they should not tell their students if they are heterosexual, it is totally irrelevant.

However, if the subject of gay rights comes up then it could be worth mentioning, and if students find out because they look on some app or something then that is down to the students.

In a nutshell, a teacher should never say “oh yea, btw…” and then tell their students what their sexual orientation is, unless it is maybe helpful in aiding the teaching some way.

As for teachers being on sites, as long as they sign up on their own pc or phone, and do it on their own time, I see no problem with it. If students find out, well, what was the student doing on the site in the first place.

i think he should be discreet with his private life, but generally indifferent, to who knows, not denial not shouting from the rooftops. in fact i think it is a good thing.

I think it all depends on what kind of teacher he is…Just out of respect for the students parents…I wouldn’t want my child knowing about homosexuality until they’re old enough to understand it, I’d say high school and up. School is for learning, not to know your teachers personal life…But like I said, I’d keep my personal life to myself if I was a teacher for like 10 year olds…They dont need to know that stuff yet.

Teachers should stick to teaching and private lives should stay out of the classroom, unless the subject comes up.

Nothing wrong with being gay; sexual orientation/preference is simply irrelevant to teaching.

If it’s not okay for a teacher to be openly gay to their students, then it’s not okay for them to be openly straight either. I had a teacher who would mention his wife all the time. Of course no one gave a shit. But if there was some kind of uproar if he had mentioned his partner or boyfriend or husband, then that would just illustrate the great double standard when it comes to homosexuality. The difference is, of course, that no one has to tell anyone they’re straight; you’re assumed straight until you prove otherwise.

I guess what I want to know is what you mean by “openly gay” with their students? How are they showing it?

And of course a teacher can be on that app. Teachers have sex lives too.

I think all teachers, gay and straight, should be discreet about their personal life, for their own protection. However, if students happen to find out that they are gay then they certainly shouldn’t feel that they have to deny it.

The best teacher I had in high school was a gay man. It was well known, noticeable by his mannerisms, and at the end of the year he’d invite his senior students to his house where he and his partner lived together. Sometimes his partner would attend school events.

In the classroom, though, it never came up. We engaged with literature that dealt with sexuality, talked about it extensively, etc., and we knew it was probably an important issue for him, but the subject of his own affinities never arose. There was no need.

If someone were to’ve asked him whether he was gay, he would have responded with something snarky (I’m sure) and to the effect that it’s none of anybody’s business. Or maybe he would have been honest. I think that’s okay. But there’s no point in prefacing the school year with, ‘Hey, students. I’m gay, in case you’re curious.’

Grindr is another story. Kind of a strange app. Did students actively look for and find this guy on Grindr? Did he tell students that he’s on Grindr? He has every right to be on Grindr; if you’re looking for him on there and making a big deal out of his private life, then that’s no fault of his. If he’s telling students he’s gay and cruising for anonymous sex with an iPhone app, then that’s a problem.

Depends on circumstances.

I agree with @Leanne1986

I think they definitely should. Gay youth face so many challenges within themselves and the oppressive world around them, that positive role models can have such a huge impact. Even knowing one adult who is out and successful can give a questioning teen so much confidence, especially if they feel comfortable talking to the teacher.

I have an openly gay friend who’s currently a student teacher. He says that he suspects a few of his high school students are gay, but because of the nature of the school would never come out, and he only hopes that he can inspire them to accept themselves.

Students know when a teacher is a racial minority or disabled, for example, so why shouldn’t they know they’re gay?

I see no reason for it to be a topic in the classroom.

Sexuality and sexual orientation should not be a topic in the classroom except in health class.

@Leanne1986 said it perfectly. That’s exactly how I feel.

I rarely knew if a teacher of mine was married or not, let alone gay or not. I see no reason to hide being gay, but also no reason to bring up their private life in general.

Unfortunately, there are some things that teachers feel they have to hide depending on where they teach. My sister teaches at a Catholic high school, and is getting married in July. She’s 37 years old and so would rather start trying for a baby sooner than later (being a little older, it might take her a while to conceive), but she has to be very careful that she won’t be showing while school is still in session. I don’t like that she has to plan her personal choices this way, but I understand why she feels she has to.

If a gay teacher cannot speak as openly about their partner/wife/husband as a heterosexual teacher can speak about their partner/wife/husband, then that is a form of homophobia.

If a gay teacher cannot privately or openly date as well as a heterosexual teacher can privately or openly date, then that is a form of homophobia.

If a gay teacher cannot completely privately seek sexual encounters in the same way heterosexual teachers seek completely private sexual encounters, then that is homophobia.

Anything that keeps a gay person from enjoying the same rights and privileges both privately and publicly as a heterosexual person is homophobia.

Let’s be blunt. Implied, whether intended or not, in this OP is the notion that there is something wrong with homosexuality and that it should be hidden from students, faculty, and administration.

@Seelix I was not even thinking in terms of private schools. I think private/religious schools can make whatever rules they want regarding things like this.

@JLeslie – It’s not a private school. In Ontario there are two publicly funded school boards, the public and the Catholic. But I digress…

@Seelix Oh, yeah, we discussed that Canada sometimes funds religious schools. One more reason not to do that. In Amercia we don’t have that problem, but our government does fund some religiously run organizations, basically started under President Bush, and I think it is a horrible decision.

@hawaii_jake I agree about the question. Most of the answer, though, are in the vein of sexuality does not belong in the classroom at all. Just as teachers should not discuss their religious beliefs or political views, they should not discuss their sexuality.

I mrember being in the fourth grade when our teacher became pregnant. There was a lot of discussion about whether she should be pregnant and in the class room.

@marinelife : I’m relieved that most of the answers are about whether or not sexuality belongs in the classroom. Discretion is best in matters of sexuality, religion, and politics as you mentioned.

I remember one teacher in my elementary school years back in the early 70s leaving halfway through the year due to pregnancy. By the time I got to junior high school in the late 70s, that had thankfully changed.

When a teacher was pregnant in my school, I would not have known if she was married or not. Never occured to me to ask as a student, and teachers rarely talked about their home life or personal relationships. I do specifically remember one teacher I knew was pregnant, I also knew she miscarried. Then she became pregnant a second time and after the baby was born I learned she was married, She also told me her second pregnancy was horrific the first few months, she had accute nausea had to be hospitalized more than once and thought about aborting, but did not, and had a baby boy. But, I learned these details after class, and she had already had the baby, and I was a senior at the time.

I’d be a little disturbed if a teacher of mine used Grindr, not because it’s for gays, but because it’s for hookups. That’s a kind of lifestyle I find a bit too strange for a teacher.

I’d like to know my teacher’s sexuality in the same sense that I’d like to know their hobbies, or musical preferences, or where they went to college. It’s not vital information. But in a way, it helps me to connect and relate with them. The more the teacher opens up to the students, then the more the students are likely to reciprocate. It’s bonding, it’s trust-building.
I don’t think they need to wear rainbow armbands, but I think it’s interesting to know that kind of stuff.

I’ve had one openly homosexual teacher. My 8th grade Life Sciences teacher. It was terrible hearing the kids snicker about her being a lesbian, like there was something wrong with it. Making jokes about her, in and out of class. People identified her, not as “The fucking awesome life sciences teacher” (which she was) but as “the lesbian teacher.” Which is bullshit. She always used the word “partner” and never explicitly said her partner’s gender, but one day somebody asked her bluntly whether or not she’s a lesbian. She told the truth, and that just made kids snicker even more.
I’d like to think that in high school or college, it’s a different attitude.

Lots of people on this thread nailed my point of view on this. Although a teacher’s sexuality is irrelevant to their job, it is nothing they should feel they need to hide if the subject is discussed. Sort of like if the teacher owns a dog or a cat: no reason to hide the truth.

A teacher wouldn’t need to hide if they are black or hispanic, so no reason to uneccesarily conceal their sexuality.

If a teacher decided to constantly talk about his sexuality, that would be inappropriate for most cases.

Well, if a teacher’s wife is picking him up from work and they openly hold hands or hug.
Whats wrong for any couple to be open? With in reason.

I couldn’t care less if my child had a gay teacher. As long as their relationship towards their students is appropriate, it’s none of my business (or yours) what someone does in their personal life.

It’s shit like this that prevents good people from becoming or remaining as teachers. The whole world thinks we can control every aspect of their life for a relatively minimal salary.

Just curious if you guys have ever been teachers?

I taught preschool for a while. During the day, we were all professional, patient, compassionate, ‘clean’, and just as you would expect. What we did on our off-hours, well, people are always a bit shocked when they hear it. The truth is, though, the job was stressful and draining, so all of us liked to really let loose when we weren’t working.

I say that because I feel like what the teacher wants to do in their off-time is no one’s business but their own. The caveat here is as everyone has said, pretty much, that when actually in the classroom, it’s important to be professional. I personally would be uncomfortable announcing my sexuality to a class of students, because I fear social inappropriateness and I feel that that crosses the line.

Now, I don’t think the teacher should be closeted or should lie about their orientation. I just think it should be a non-issue when teaching and I’m not sure it’s the place to make that kind of point. I personally would not lie if someone asked me directly, and I could also see using my perspective if I were teaching about prejudice, but only if the atmosphere felt right.

A teacher’s sexuality is a private matter and nobody else’s business least of all his pupils. A bit of respect please.

As has been mentioned, it all comes down to what is meant by “openly gay.” My first grade teacher was a biker. I never knew this until I was much older and ran into her all decked out in a leather jacket and leaning on her Harley. She didn’t curse in class or tell dirty jokes, no matter how she talked with me 15 years later.

Similarly, no teacher walks in to a class and says, “Hello, I’m Mr./Ms. Jones and I’m homosexual!” But plenty of teachers make passing references to their significant others or tell personal stories when they are relevant to classroom discussions. I have no problem with that, regardless of the sexual orientation of the teacher or the age of the students.

I understood homosexuality before I was even in school. My father had gay friends, and I understood that to mean they had relationships with other men rather than with women. My understanding of relationships was that of a child, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t handle the concept of homosexuality. It’s only by hiding homosexuality that we create teenagers and adults who are unable to cope with it.

In the end, I agree with @hawaii_jake: whenever you ask yourself whether or not something is appropriate for a homosexual person to do, consider what you’d think if it was a heterosexual person. If it’s appropriate for the latter, then it’s appropriate for the former.

Perhaps there could be some clever question which allows the definitional differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals to upset this last statement. Suffice it to say that the statement need only hold for all questions not attempting to circumvent the spirit of the principle on a technicality. And since @MissAnthrope asked, I am a teacher. Specifically, I am currently a graduate teaching assistant at a university.

It is perfectly OK, as long as students, or their parents, who may not be not comfortable with the notion are freely allowed to say so.

@josie : Should parents or students also be allowed to freely speak out against teachers of a certain race, religion, physically handicapped, or right or left handedness?

Employers have certain expectations about their employees behavior, whether they are at the work place or not. You have to be very careful these days about what you say on Facebook or anywhere else. If you say the wrong thing and your employer finds it, you can get fired.

I have no problem with a teacher being identified as gay. Unless the students are prejudiced assholes, it shouldn’t make a difference. Of course, a lot of students are prejudiced assholes, but then it becomes a “teachable” moment. Then again, every school should be teaching students about tolerance (except religious schools, of course, who teach the opposite).

I think that a teacher who uses social networking sites needs to be very careful. They must not be seen to be hitting on their students in any way, shape or form. Grindr fits into the stereotype that gay men will have sex with anyone like a tight rubber glove. It just perpetuates the idea that all you need to do is meet another gay guy and you’re set for the night.

If a teacher sees someone near him, and that someone is a student in the school the teacher teaches at, that’s trouble. A rumor could start just because people see them together. Any evidence of any communication at all between them could be disastrous.

So there are two different things going on here. One is the issue of being out as a teacher. I think gay teachers shouldn’t hide it. It has nothing to do with their job. The other issue is about how people find out about your sexuality. I think teachers need to be very careful about that. They should be out on their own terms, not on accident, where things can go disastrously wrong.

I don’t think a teachers personal life should ever come into play in the classroom. Like others have said, it is totally irrelevant. A lot of teachers do mention their spouses…and I think if a teacher was gay, first off, they’d probably be a little hesitant to tell their students that they were gay, anyhow for several reasons…the big one being, it would probably distract the kids and no doubt encourage some obnoxious behavior. But secondly, I’m thinking of the parents of the kids that my boyfriend teaches….if they found out that their kids teacher was gay, they would have a huge problem with it. These are narrow minded people who think males should like football and have huge muscles and not be emotional. I can GUARANTEE if they found out there was a gay teacher there would be an uproar. It’s so stupid…..but it would cause so many problems….way more than if the teacher mentioned his wife. That’s all I’m sayin. Which is why I think the teacher should never mention it in the first place.

Your teacher’s sexuality is none of your business. If kids are logging onto a website that they have no business using, not being of an age to do so, the fault lies solely with them. No matter what they find out by doing so as long as there’s nothing illegal going on.

The Grindr Terms of Service explicitly states

“THE GRINDR SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE FOR INDIVIDUALS AGED 18 YEARS OR OLDER.

i.AGE RESTRICTED ACCESS. NO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS (TWENTY-ONE (21) YEARS IN PLACES WHERE EIGHTEEN (18)YEARS IS NOT THE AGE OF MAJORITY) MAY DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY VIEW, POSSESS OR OTHERWISE USE GRINDR OR THE GRINDR SOFTWARE OR ANY SERVICES AFFILIATED WITH OR ASSOCIATED WITH GRINDR OR THE GRINDR SOFTWARE.

ii.AFFIRMATION OF CURRENT ADULT STATUS. YOU HEREBY AFFIRM AND WARRANT THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY OVER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS (TWENTY-ONE (21) YEARS IN PLACES WHERE EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS IS NOT THE AGE OF MAJORITY) AND YOU ARE CAPABLE OF LAWFULLY ENTERING INTO AND PERFORMING ALL THE OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT”

Sorry for the caps.

Most dating sites are the same. If students are illegally accessing sites that they shouldn’t be accessing, there’s no fault with the teacher for being on a site that their students should have no access to. That the teacher has every right to be on. Perhaps your “friend” should read the things he’s agreeing to before signing up for things like this.

If the teacher didn’t choose to share this with his students, and they “had to” do illegal things to find this out, its even more none of their business than it was to begin with.