Keywords:
school meetings, LGBTQ family, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, accommodations, inclusivity, labour, role model, strategy, advocacy, queer labour
school meetings, LGBTQ family, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, accommodations, inclusivity, labour, role model, strategy, advocacy, queer labour
Mary: One of the very first things we always did was to meet the teacher in the, you know, curriculum night they have in September and say, “this is C’s family.” And that, that our expectation was that her family would be treated, in any discussion of families, that that would be a part of it. And, and for the most part, I think that happened. But, you know, there was inevitably some discussion about you know, how it all worked, and things like “oh it’s Father’s Day coming up, let’s make a Father’s Day card!” I think in a couple of cases that I can think of, her teachers were, were so wonderful when she was so young that she wouldn’t really have had the wherewithal, or the language to, to, um address this herself. They said “Oh, it’s Father’s Day, oh well, here C, make, make a card for your Granddad.”
Tara: Okay
Mary: So they dealt with it that way. And they would give her extra time on Mother’s Day to make
Tara: Two!
Mary: Two presents, and two cards, and that kind of thing. So, you know, I’m, I, I’m not really sure how much more we could have expected. I think um, again, I’m pretty sure she was the only child in that situation and I don’t expect the teacher to you know, revamp everything to do that. But, they, they did take some very positive steps to make sure that she was included.
Tara: And that was uh, able to happen because you and your partner went down to meet the teachers.
Mary: That’s right.
Tara: So would that be a strategy that you would uh, yo would say worked very well for you? You always knew that that would be something that you would have to do.
Mary: Uh, we assumed it would be!
Tara: Okay
Mary: I hope we won’t have to, and people who come after us won’t have to do that forever.
Tara: Yeah
Mary: But yeah, I think, you know, given that it seemed to be a new situation in that particular school, um, in talking to a friend of mine who teaches at that school--
Tara: Okay
Mary” who is a lesbian, and you know, she said “I don’t think we’ve ever had a family quite like yours.”
Mary: Okay
Mary: So we though, “Okay, well, here we are pioneers, we will have to do a little extra to make sure we educate them” and it was never a huge amount of trouble. We would go to those curriculum nights anyways
Tara: Right
Mary: You know if we were lesbian or not. But I think it was just really important for us to have that communication and to make sure that was okay.
Tara: Right. How was that for you and your partner? Did you ever have an uncomfortable situation? Or um, did the fact that you were proactive, and had the confidence that you know, you clearly had, carry the evening almost all the time?
Mary: Yeah, I think, I think it did. I can’t think of a situation where we were treated poorly, or anyone was uncomfortable, or um, anything, you know, it was clear for some of the conversations that this was--
Tara: A first
Mary: a first. That it was new. But it was like wow, that’s great! You know, fabulous. So no, it was--
Tara: That’s very wonderful.
Mary: Yeah I know, and again, I’m not so naive to know that understand that’s not, that’s unfortunately not uh, the same for everybody, but that was our experience.
Tara: Okay
Mary: So they dealt with it that way. And they would give her extra time on Mother’s Day to make
Tara: Two!
Mary: Two presents, and two cards, and that kind of thing. So, you know, I’m, I, I’m not really sure how much more we could have expected. I think um, again, I’m pretty sure she was the only child in that situation and I don’t expect the teacher to you know, revamp everything to do that. But, they, they did take some very positive steps to make sure that she was included.
Tara: And that was uh, able to happen because you and your partner went down to meet the teachers.
Mary: That’s right.
Tara: So would that be a strategy that you would uh, yo would say worked very well for you? You always knew that that would be something that you would have to do.
Mary: Uh, we assumed it would be!
Tara: Okay
Mary: I hope we won’t have to, and people who come after us won’t have to do that forever.
Tara: Yeah
Mary: But yeah, I think, you know, given that it seemed to be a new situation in that particular school, um, in talking to a friend of mine who teaches at that school--
Tara: Okay
Mary” who is a lesbian, and you know, she said “I don’t think we’ve ever had a family quite like yours.”
Mary: Okay
Mary: So we though, “Okay, well, here we are pioneers, we will have to do a little extra to make sure we educate them” and it was never a huge amount of trouble. We would go to those curriculum nights anyways
Tara: Right
Mary: You know if we were lesbian or not. But I think it was just really important for us to have that communication and to make sure that was okay.
Tara: Right. How was that for you and your partner? Did you ever have an uncomfortable situation? Or um, did the fact that you were proactive, and had the confidence that you know, you clearly had, carry the evening almost all the time?
Mary: Yeah, I think, I think it did. I can’t think of a situation where we were treated poorly, or anyone was uncomfortable, or um, anything, you know, it was clear for some of the conversations that this was--
Tara: A first
Mary: a first. That it was new. But it was like wow, that’s great! You know, fabulous. So no, it was--
Tara: That’s very wonderful.
Mary: Yeah I know, and again, I’m not so naive to know that understand that’s not, that’s unfortunately not uh, the same for everybody, but that was our experience.