Chapter 8: Creating A Space For All Voices: Gay Latino Teachers’ Experiences and the Urgency for LGBTQQIA Equity in Schools

Imagine an openly gay Latino teacher who starts a new job. This teacher has been openly gay since high school, survived coming out to his family and friends, and married another man. The teacher learns that his principal, who is also Latino, is extremely machismo. This machismo principal tells male students they should not cry publicly because it is not manly. Immediately flashing back to his childhood, the new openly gay Latino teacher remembers his experiences with a father and uncles telling him not to cry and to man up. As a result, he decides not to disclose his sexual orientation to his co-workers or Latino students and goes back into the closet. His principal’s heteronormative behavior frightens him into acting more masculine. Doing otherwise might violate the norms that his principal established for the school and possibly get him fired.