Episode Details
Back to Episodes“Only Girls Wear Earrings”: What a Kindergartner’s Question Can Teach Us About Gender | Ep. 225 (with Sulwyn Garcia)
Description
Sulwyn is a primary school teacher in Copenhagen who has taught across five countries. In this conversation, they and Bryan talk about what young children learn about gender long before anyone gives them a formal lesson, and how a teacher can respond when a child asks an unexpected question.
Sulwyn shares a moment from their classroom: a five-year-old notices their earrings and asks if they are a girl. Rather than shutting the question down, Sulwyn asks what the child means. Their exchange offers a practical glimpse of queer literacy in the early years. The conversation also makes room for the safety of queer educators, the different choices teachers face in different places, and the joy Sulwyn finds with their students and in Copenhagen’s ballroom community.
In this episode, you will:
- Explore how everyday classroom language and interactions can reinforce ideas about gender.
- Hear how a simple follow-up question can help young children reconsider who gets to wear earrings.
- Consider how queer educators can care for their own safety and cultivate joy beyond school.
Queering education happens in small, repeated moments as well as larger changes. Sulwyn’s story offers a way to think about those moments with curiosity and care, for children and educators alike.
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.
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Keywords: Teaching While Queer, queer educators, LGBTQ teachers, inclusive education, gender identity in schools, safe classrooms, anti-bullying strategies, educator burnout, LGBTQ advocacy, queer visibility in education