To wonder if this is inappropriate

[justignorethecat]

For a teacher to tell secondary pupils she is a lesbian?

Nothing wrong with what you said at all

Good on you!! Can't believe you were told off.

You should report whoever told you off for it. You have the right to work in an environment that is not hostile to you. The right. Not ... if it suits them then you may blah blah.

I love that about the school cutting it off like that. I’ve said this to my boys but not all parents in my circle seem to think it’s an issue using the word as an insult

Who told you off?

Not inappropriate at all. Why should the default be heterosexual? Well done OP.

Told off by whom? There is no reason whatsoever you should need to hide your sexuality.

If another member of staff told you off, I’d suggest referring them to various laws which forbid discrimination. I mean, I wear a wedding ring, kids ask when labelling their book if they should write Miss or Mrs, I don’t keep my husband a secret, so why should you keep your partner a secret, regardless of sex? The only time it would be inappropriate would be if you started discussing your sexuality with no provocation, like mid Latin verbs!

My school has a strong LGBT group, kids who promote openness and will mention LGBT in assembly. There are support groups etc. Any use of homophobic slurs is sanctioned.

Isn't sexual orientation a protected characteristic under the equality act? Would a heterosexual teacher have been told of for mentioning their sexuality? If not I would may be mention this to someone above whoever told you off. Although you may want to double check the act.

You were absolutely right op. I might want to have a discussion about this with whoever deals with diversity and inclusion on the curriculum- if there is anyone who champions this is secondary schools. I bloody well hope there is.

Good for you! Nothing wrong with this at all

no

Not at all inappropriate, in fact it was perfectly appropriate and well handled. Could the union have a word with the person who told you off?

As a declaration to the students of course completely inappropriate of course. I never had a teacher telling us if they were married/single/straight or gay and there's no reason why they should make a statement. The sexual life and private life of teachers is irrelevant, you just know about it when they actually get married, or are obviously pregnant.

In the context of your OP, no. It's not something to be ashamed of either.

I am shocked that you were told off for this! If the person telling you off was one of your superiors they have got their priorities wrong big time! If it was a colleague just ignore them. At my school homophobic language is instant isolation. The only thing I would have done differently is making clear it is not acceptable at any time, not just because a gay person overheard. Well done for calling it out, it must be hurtful to you!

Absolutely no problems at all. I’m a teacher, my brother is gay. We have actually gay member of staff both male and female. The students know. One female married recently and the student knew. We are fully inclusive school, so totally not an issue at all.

You did nothing wrong.

I went to an all girls school and there were a few openly gay female teachers, it was never considered an issue that the pupils knew this. Two were in a relationship with each other - it was no secret because it's nothing to be ashamed off! It was more scandalous when the super miserable middle-aged male maths teacher married the newly qualified early 20s beautiful female PE teacher!

@ikeepaforkinmypurse so you never had a teacher refer even in passing to their husband or wife? Nonsense, and why would it matter if that partner was the same sex. Having a female partner as a female isn't about sex life. Especially in this context where it was being disclosed to challenge inappropriate language.

To announce to the class “Hi class I’m Miss justignorethecat and I’m a lesbian” is a bit odd just as it is would be strange for a heterosexual Teacher to tell their class their sexuality. However, you were correcting these pupils for using the term ‘gay’ in an insulting/derogatory manner, and related it to yourself. I do not see this as inappropriate. You were educating them to be kind and social acceptable human beings. If a coloured Teacher was correcting pupils for making racist remarks and referred to themselves as they had coloured skin then I certainly don’t think anyone would dream of complaining!

*socially acceptable

Always easier for teachers to keep anything about their lives to themselves eg where they live, wether they have kids, marital status, sexuality etc. Kids often dig for information and spread the 'news' good, bad or indifferent and boundaries get eroded. It's a safer way.

The kids could have been reprimanded (and should have been) without any reference to your own situation.

Were you told off by someone senior to you at school. I would be following this up with my union. Not on at all.

Not inappropriate in that context, IMO.

However, in general, I think it is probably better if teachers maintain a certain amount of professional distance and don't share too many details of their personal lives.

Different teachers have different styles. Some prefer not to discuss anything, others are happy to mention brief details about their families.

Personally I don’t see anything wrong with mentioning it in the op situation. Some of the children we teach will have a gay parent or relative, and as they get older some of the children will realise that they themselves are gay. But we are supposed to pretend all teachers are straight?

As for being “told off” I think that I’d be having a chat with my union rep. Appalling in this day and age.

Speak to your union. That's not on.