# Miss Kaitlyn's first day in the classroom. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209 "2005-01-05T16:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/161 "2005-01-07T22:54:32Z")
I am loving this thread! That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/162 "2005-01-07T23:15:09Z")
I’d first like do add myself to the list of people that are complimenting you on your classy handling of this. Then I’d like to suggest that you think very carefully before posting anything unladylike here, in response to anything. The chances are probably small, but there is a chance that someone from your area of Texas, or someone a lot less understanding then most of the people you have been dealing with, might read this and be able to connect your SDMB postings with your real life. You really don’t need a little well deserved venting coming back to bite you. > [@Kaitlyn](#): > > I shall have some rather unladylike things to say in response to this after school, using language I would prefer not to use while posting from a school computer. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/163 "2005-01-07T23:36:06Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > I’d first like do add myself to the list of people that are complimenting you on your classy handling of this. > > Then I’d like to suggest that you think very carefully before posting anything unladylike here, in response to anything. The chances are probably small, but there is a chance that someone from your area of Texas, or someone a lot less understanding then most of the people you have been dealing with, might read this and be able to connect your SDMB postings with your real life. You really don’t need a little well deserved venting coming back to bite you. Point taken, and good advice. Also, thank you for the similar advice iampunha. I should know better than that. I’m not as foolish as that sounds; I actually use my own laptop for posting from work, not a school-owned machine, and I only do so during duty-free times, but a bit of extra caution could be exercised, you’re correct. I’ll still be posting a response, just one more reasonable in its expression, and doing so from home. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/164 "2005-01-07T23:42:29Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > and a love interest! We gotta have a love interest… For Mr. P or for me? If it’s for me, well, it’s pretty obvious who that character would need to be. [This](http://www.lindapark.com/) is the only person really qualified to play her. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/165 "2005-01-07T23:47:26Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > Three students were pulled from my class today, all boys. Damn. You’d think that in this day and age, people would have gotten over their idiotic prejudices. There’s _nothing_ wrong with having a Korean school teacher! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/166 "2005-01-08T00:03:36Z")
Mr P must be played by Ben Stein. “Do we have any freaks? Beuller? Beuller?” And, in my opinion when you want to explain gender issues to kids you can’t beat [A Baby Named X](http://www.lightlink.com/wiemers/old/inspire/x_a_childs_story.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/167 "2005-01-08T00:06:39Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **Kaitlyn** , would I be out of line if I said that I’m starting to get eaten up with curiosity as to what you look like? I don’t need to know what Keith looked like, but I am interested to know if my mental image of Kaitlyn tucking her hair behind her ears is at all accurate. 🙂 As Shibboleth said, I look a little like Grace Park in her Battlestar Galactica guise. Start with [This image](http://www.nixflix.com/battlestar/pages/gracepark_battlestar11.htm). They’ve intentionally made up Grace here to look a little more masculine to fit her role as a fighter jock, which gets her fairly close to my face shape. Now imagine a little darker skin, true black hair, amber eyes (tinted contacts, but hey, if I gotta wear 'em anyway, might as well use 'em to my advantage), and eyebrows thinned out to a nice feminine arch, and you’ve got me without my makeup. But I wouldn’t be caught dead in that outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/168 "2005-01-08T00:11:20Z")
I see! My my! ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/169 "2005-01-08T00:39:37Z")
Just wanted to ad my voice to the chorus. Way to go **Kaitlyn**!! You do indeed rock… ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/170 "2005-01-08T03:00:44Z")
**Kaitlyn** , first of all, yay you! You and Mr. P have handled this so wonderfully. I wish I had a kid to transfer into your class. My partner and I are rooting for you. (Oh, and if you came into a lesbian bar, we’d totally hang out with you!) By the way, I have a question for you or anyone else who might know. Do you know if there are any long term negative medical effects of hormone therapy? Such as those for menopausal women taking estrogen, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/171 "2005-01-08T03:22:03Z")
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how I feel about having the boys having been transferred out of my class. Until I do, I wanted to report Mrs. Six’s latest comment: Mrs. Six: I hope you realize you’ve just made us the stars of some horny teenagers’ Hoshi / Boomer slashfic. Me: Really? Mrs. Six: Think about it. Star Trek. Battlestar Galactica. Lesbians. I’d be surprised if there aren’t two or three stories posted somewhere already. Me: I hope somebody posts a link. Mrs. Six: If they do, print out a copy for me. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/172 "2005-01-08T03:29:04Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > Hoshi / Boomer slashfic. There’s a Shatner joke here, but I just can’t make it happen. ^:)^ ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/173 "2005-01-08T03:34:42Z")
> [@rivulus](#): > > **Kaitlyn** , first of all, yay you! You and Mr. P have handled this so wonderfully. I wish I had a kid to transfer into your class. > > My partner and I are rooting for you. (Oh, and if you came into a lesbian bar, we’d totally hang out with you!) Glad to hear it. It’s foolish to assume that any group of people are all the same based on one encounter, and I wish I hadn’t done that. > [@](#): > > By the way, I have a question for you or anyone else who might know. Do you know if there are any long term negative medical effects of hormone therapy? Such as those for menopausal women taking estrogen, for example. Greatly increased risk of breast cancer and increased risk of testicular cancer while the testes are still intact. The second risk is no longer a problem for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/174 "2005-01-08T04:41:45Z")
**Kaitlyn** , I’'ve been retired from teaching for fifteen years, but getting to meet you and Mr. P and see the two of you in action would make a return to the classroom awfully tempting! The next time I am asked what celebs I know, would you mind terribly if I claim you? Just make sure that when you sell the rights to your story to the movie business, you stipulate that the roles of parents who take their kids out of your class must be played by pinch-faced puffy-eyed actors with bad haircuts. Thanks for letting us in. That takes real ovaries! ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/175 "2005-01-08T05:47:07Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > And you would be amazed at what constitutes a “School Policty” question: > > Parent D: I don’t want some freak teaching in my school! > > Mr P: That’s a school policy question, I’ll answer it. First, this isn’t your school. It is the property of the state and of the school district, run in accordance to state law and district policy. Neither state law nor district policy include being a freak as a disqalifying factor for obtaining a teaching liscense in this state. As a point of fact, most freaks are protected by workplace non-discrimination policies, If we do at some time in the future decide to hire some freaks they will be provided appropriate accmmodations as are needed for their conditions. [Turning to Mr. VP]: Do we have any freaks scheduled for interviews? > Mr. VP: I’ll have to check my calendar, and get back to you on that tomorrow. I really want to have Mr. P’s babies at this point. **Kaitlyn** , you’re an amazing woman. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/176 "2005-01-08T09:13:42Z")
Thanks for the thread, **Kaitlyn**. It alone has been worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/177 "2005-01-08T09:15:21Z")
I’ve thought about what I would want to say to the parents who pulled their kids. It doesn’t have any bad words, and it’s polite, so I’ll put it here. To the parents who took their kids from my class: You made a mistake today. Not because your kids won’t be in my classroom–I’m sure they’ll learn their multiplication and reading skills just fine in their new class. The mistake is the lesson you taught them. You gave them a lesson in intolerance and bigotry. You gave them a lesson in fear. You gave them a lesson in wilfull ignorance. You can’t catch what I have. It isn’t contagious, and it won’t be a part of what I’m teaching them. I’m not going to try to indoctrinate your kids into some deviant way of thinking. All I wanted was to be treated just like any other teacher would have been treated in that situation. If I thought that there was any chance whatsoever that your boys could “catch” what I have, I would leave the classroom today and never retern. I want only good things for the students I teach, and I would never wish the years of self-doubt and near-suicidal depression through which I suffered to be inflicted on anyone. For more than 20 years, I was in a prison out of which I could see no escape except on those occasions I considered that death. And there were more than a few of those. I’m not asking for sympathy, just some basic understanding of what I went through, so that you can understand this: I would not wish this on anyone. I don’t want your boys to be anything other than exactly who and what they are. I hope they don’t have to struggle with issues of identity other than what every person normally encounters growing up. I also hope that if they do struggle with issues of their sexuality when they reach that age, that you treat them with more dignity and respect than you treated me. They deserve better. Understand this: If there were the slightest possibility that my condition could have caused anything similar in your boys, it would not have been necessary to pull them out. I would have left. The only harm done to your sons today was done by you. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/178 "2005-01-08T09:55:46Z")
:::applause::: ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/179 "2005-01-08T10:11:18Z")
Well said, **Kaitlyn**. Very well said. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/180 "2005-01-08T12:11:31Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > I’ve thought about what I would want to say to the parents who pulled their kids. It doesn’t have any bad words, and it’s polite, so I’ll put it here… What are your plans for this? Will you try to proactively send it to the parents, or only if there is further interaction with them? I suspect it will be one hell of a struggle to get these people to see you as anything other than a threat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209.md?page=10)