Teacher shares letter from student she inspired to come out

A teacher from Liverpool has shared a touching letter she was sent by a pupil who she inspired to come out after decided to be honest about her own sexuality with the students in her classes.

Drama teacher Emma Baldry shared her own experiences of being out in the classroom ahead of Liverpool Pride this weekend (August 1), where she will be at the forefront of the event’s education work.

The 31 year-old told the Liverpool Echo that she decided to come out to her students after changing her name when she entered a civil partnership.

“Many of the older pupils started to ask what my husband was called and I had a choice to make,” she said. “Do I lie or do I tell the truth? I chose the latter because I’d gone through enough time living as not me so I promised myself that now I’d found who I truly was I would never ever hide my sexuality again.”

She continued: “I’m a drama teacher and one of the first pieces of work I do with new year 7s is about family. We talk about families coming in all shapes and sizes including adopted, foster, single parent, mixed race and same-sex. I’d ask the kids to bring in a photo of their family and I brought in mine: of me, my wife and our cat!

“It isn’t a question of me walking into a classroom and saying ‘Hi, I’m Mrs Baldry and I’m a lesbian teacher’ but we talk about how all families are different and every one is special because of it. It’s my way of letting kids know that my room is a safe space to talk about anything, and that it is all-inclusive.

“A lot of children don’t have someone they can talk to at home, and even if they have a really good relationship with their parents they can be scared they’re going to break that.”

The Merseyside teacher also shared a letter she had received from a pupil, who found the courage to come out thanks to Ms Baldry’s LGBt-inclusive lessons and assemblies, which the adolescent says “changed loads of students’ opinions”. Read it in full below:

“When I first told them my form were adorable,” Ms Baldry added. “They said ‘Miss, we still love you and if anyone says anything we’ll get them for you.’

“From the day you say ‘I’m gay’ you’re forever outing yourself to somebody, but having my students behind me and knowing it doesn’t change anything means so much.”

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