Ær Queen
How often have we collectively felt like things are getting upended "once again" over the past three years? If you are anything like Nicholas and I, it probably seems like way too many. That being said, not every "upending" has been negative, and if I'm being totally honest the pandemic has been the reason for a lot of positive new things in my own life, and I hope in yours as well.
Nicholas and I met through a shared passion for advocacy on transgender topics, and our work has grown and evolved around that theme. We started "tag teaming" comment sections on Facebook where anti-trans dialogue was taking place, made some trans-only Facebook groups, and generally made sure that we were present any time there trans topics on the table.
It was exhausting. I can't speak for Nicholas, but for myself, constantly defending my right to exist was absolutely detrimental to my mental well-being. Without going into all of the details, I was not OK.
At the same time that we were doing this person-to-person advocacy work, Nicholas and I also began to plan ways for us to reach a wider audience, in a potentially more meaningful way. I don't remember exactly how it happened but we ultimately decided to submit proposals to music educator conferences.
The first conference we presented at was the Maryland Music Educators Association Summer Virtual conference, and to be perfectly honest: it was an incredible experience. Sharing about ourselves and why equity for transgender students is so important was frankly empowering, and it sparked my own desire to keep doing this.
During the 2021-2022 school year, we were able to present at more than 20 conferences, and even expanded our presentations beyond the world of music education- we were accepted to present at the Virginia Education Association (an affiliate of NEA), and the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity: Equity in Education Summit!
This school year, we plan to keep presenting in as many places as possible. This is not a ploy for fame or anything of that nature, but it is a way to get as many people as possible on board with protecting their transgender students. This work is crucial, and we want to help as many teachers as we can to practice inclusion in their own spaces.
We are going to keep this space updated with our own projects, ideas and articles for teachers, and maybe even things that we haven't even been able to think of yet! Please keep in mind that we are both full time teachers in addition to doing this work, so we will update when we have time and not on any particular schedule.
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