I found out last week that my daughter will have a teacher next year in 5th grade that I’m almost positive is a lesbian.
So, you're beginning this post by admitting that you actually don't know for certain.
I mean, we live in a pretty small community in Texas where everybody knows everybody else and everybody’s business and it’s been gossip for years, even though I don’t think she’s actually out of the closet or anything.
Gossip is bad, mmkay? Her private life has absolutely nothing to do with yours.
She doesn’t really look like a lesbian, not what you’d consider butch or anything, she’s actually really pretty and feminine,
Okay, so she doesn't fit your stereotype of what a lesbian should be, yet you insist on calling her one? There's no winning with you people, is there?
and she’s always been nice whenever I’ve had to deal with her, which really hasn’t been much, just in passing.
All right, so she's a nice person. That should be what matters. Whence comes the apprehension?
BUT
she’s lived with the same woman for several years (the woman she lives with is a police detective and she definitely looks like a typical lesbian), and its common knowledge around our town that they’re “together” in that way.
Plenty of women live together without having any kind of romantic or sexual relationship. They call themselves "roommates," and it is typically a matter of financial convenience to live in that sort of arrangement. They could very well be best friends who just happen to live together in order to save money. So what?
I don’t know what to do, and this has been REALLY bugging me since I found out.
The thing is, you haven't found anything out. You have already said that this is just gossip, and rumors can get blown out of proportion very quickly.
I am NOT accepting of the homosexual lifestyle and I think it is completely repulsive and wrong.
That's a shame, because it makes you sound like an ignorant bigot. Her life has no effect on yours.
Honestly, I don’t even think gays should be allowed to be teachers in my opinion. Just too much potential for something bad to happen and too much wrong influence, if you ask me.
Why is that? Most of the teachers I have had rarely if ever discuss their significant others and/or romantic pursuits. That sort of thing has absolutely no place in the classroom, regardless of the teacher's sexual persuasion. Teachers are there to teach, not to sway someone's sexuality.
I don’t want my daughter to think its ok to be gay, and I’m afraid if she likes her teacher, she’ll think that kind of lifestyle is ok when it’s not.
More than likely, your daughter will never hear of this woman's sexuality unless another adult brings it up, since the teacher probably will make no mention of it.
The problem is, I don’t think this woman is officially out of the closet, either, even though everybody knows she’s probably gay, even the kids talk about it, so I’m not sure if I should make a big deal about it or not.
Okay, so the kids talk about it. Can't you see the harm your gossip has had on the younger generation? You and your friends have created an army of brainwashed children who have no problem talking about people behind the backs, passing along potentially unfounded rumors simply because they hear them from adults. Really, her sexuality doesn't even matter here; what matters is the values you are instilling in your children, and you are telling them that it is acceptable to gossip.
I did mention to the principal that I wasn’t real happy with my daughter’s placement but he just brushed me off and told me that this teacher was an excellent teacher and that her students test scores were some of the highest in the school and that I should be lucky that my daughter will have her.
Maybe you should, I don't know, listen to him? He probably knows what he is talking about. According to him, the teacher really knows what she is doing, and she is probably very much aware of the fact that her sexuality, whatever it is, does not belong in her classroom.
He also told me class placements wouldn’t be changed. I would send my daughter to a private Christian school but there’s no way I can afford that and we can’t afford to homeschool either because me and my husband both have to work. I would love to be able to stay home and homeschool, but that is not going to happen anytime soon.
You sicken me. You would deprive your child of a good education simply because you think her upcoming teacher might be a lesbian? What the hell kind of bearing does a woman's sexuality have on her ability to teach multiplication or the history of the Americas?
Not working just isn’t an option for me right now. I also thought about maybe changing school districts but found out they’re pretty strict about letting people do that because of overcrowding, so that’s not going to happen either. My daughter is in a good public school, probably one of the best in our area, I just don’t know about this teacher.
Deal with it. Unless you insist on making a big deal of it, nothing will come of it. Her sexuality will never be an issue, especially since the children are really too young for that sort of thing.
The more I think about it, the worse feeling I have about it. Part of me thinks I’m overreacting, but part of me also thinks if I don’t stand up and object to this, nobody else will.
You are most certainly overreacting.
And then what if something happens to my daughter or if she winds up thinking its ok to be gay? I just don’t know anymore. Any advice?
Nothing will happen to your daughter. Really, nothing can happen to your daughter, at least when it comes to her teacher's sexuality. What goes on in a woman's bedroom is her business, and regardless of whom she is sleeping with, it should not find its way into her classroom. I suggest that you settle down, accept that your daughter will be with one of the best fifth grade teachers in the school, and leave the poor woman alone. She's going to have enough to deal with come the beginning of the school year without your meddling.
