Voices Carry

<p><strong>Rules of Teaching:</strong></p><ol><li data-list=ordered><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span>Clone thyself</li><li data-list=ordered><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span>Learn teleportation. The sooner the better.</li><li data-list=ordered><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span>Trust no one.</li></ol><p><br></p><p>These are the rules I learned as a middle school teacher though it was the last one that drove me from the classroom forever. Like many educators I couldn't survive the politics. After thirteen years I bailed. How did I an abuse-surviving queer end up teaching in the middle of the Bible Belt? Better yet how did I survive?</p><p><br></p><p><strong>New Rule of Life:</strong> Neither my silence nor my identity is for sale at any price.</p><p><br></p><p>My former vice principal said it best <em>(though I wasn't supposed to see that email)</em> when he asked Why does she always have to write a damn novel?</p><p>So here I am. Writing a <em>damn</em> novel. As to the why...because I believe in changing the world one word at a time.</p><p><br></p><p><em>Navigating discrimination whether it's from employers medical professionals colleagues or family is often fraught with uncertainty. Join Raven Oak on their journey of transition and self-discovery in a world built on silence.</em></p>