Other than that. Two weeks ago there was a trip to a poetry open mic. One of the performers was a trans guy. This was the same day I came out to the aforementioned co-worker. I missed this next part, but apparently the woman who performed after him said "I don't know what gender you are but you're cute". Fast forward to today. One of my students told me that I looked like "that lady at the poetry". After a few questions, who she was comparing me to was that trans guy poet (a flattering comparison indeed). Then she and another student were talking about what gender he is. I am pretty sure he's a trans guy, but that's just my educated assumption (he had a binder on, his name is Ian, he was in a man's suit, etc.) My asshole co-worker and my awesome co-worker were both there, it felt like the pressure was on, and now I gotta figure out what to say to that kid. I said something like "I'm not gonna make any assumptions, it's best to ask that person what they consider themselves...." I'm not even sure those were the exact words, and I'm not even sure I got the point across about considering oneself/identifying as one gender or another. My mind was more set on validating his boy-ness than teaching those two girls that there is such a concept as gender identity. I did use the pronouns "they/them" though. Wow that was really on the spot. I hope they learned something, cuz it wasn't my best.
And this is the awesomest video ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA39nPBoY54
