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156. When Politicians Come After Queer Educators: Navigating Safety, Censorship, and Survival
Description
Jed Dearybury faced death threats and political attacks—just for being a gay educator who spoke the truth.
In this searing episode, Jed shares how being visible as a queer teacher in South Carolina put a target on his back—from right-wing Twitter mobs to local politicians who openly threatened his job and safety. Despite the harassment, Jed continues to teach, speak, and advocate with joy, humor, and relentless love for his community.
Listeners will hear:
- How queer visibility in schools became a political battleground
- What it feels like to be publicly attacked for your identity—and how to survive it
- Strategies for queer educators balancing authenticity with safety in hostile environments
This episode isn’t just about one teacher—it’s about all of us fighting for space in classrooms we helped build.
Tap play to hear how Jed turned political persecution into power.
Support the podcast and spread the message with merch from Equalitees.Me!
This podcast explores the challenges and successes of queer representation in education, tackling topics like burnout, tokenism, doxing, and the role of advocacy in building inclusive classrooms, safe spaces, and anti-bullying strategies. It centers support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, aromantic, agender, two-spirit, and non-binary teachers, and addresses how gender identity in schools can be honored to combat isolation and foster community.
Teaching While Queer is a podcast for LGBTQ+ educators navigating teaching, leadership, and survival in today’s schools. The show explores queer and trans representation in education, educator burnout, book bans, workplace discrimination, tokenism, doxing, and advocacy—while sharing practical strategies for building inclusive classrooms, affirming school cultures, and safer learning environments. Episodes center gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, asexual, aromantic, agender, and Two-Spirit educators, with conversations on gender identity in schools, anti-bullying practices, mental health, and community care. This podcast supports educators who feel isolated and offers solidarity, tools, and hope for LGBTQ+ teachers working across K–12 and higher education.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Queering Education is a Teaching While Queer podcast centering LGBTQ+ educators and the real-world realities of teaching while queer. We explore queer representation in education, including burnout, tokenism, doxing, visibility, boundaries, and advocacy for inclusive classrooms, safe schools, and anti-bullying practices.
This podcast supports gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, asexual, aromantic, agender, and two-spirit teachers, and addresses how gender identity in schools can be honored to reduce isolation, protect educators, and build community.
Support the podcast and spread the message with merch from Equalitees.Me.
Follow Teaching While Queer on Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
Keywords: Teaching While Queer, queer educators, LGBTQ teachers, inclusive education, gender identity in schools, safe classrooms,