Teaching While Queer: Advocacy, Community, and Resources for LGBTQ+ Educators.
Teaching While Queer is a bold, unfiltered podcast at the intersection of queerness, education, and resistance. If you’ve ever felt isolated in your classroom, silenced by policy, burned out by “inclusion” that’s all talk, or unsure how to survive and stay authentic in education—this podcast is for you. Hosted by Bryan Stanton (they/them)—award-winning educator, theatre pedagogy scholar, and founder of the Teaching While Queer movement—each episode centers real stories from LGBTQ+ educators navigating book bans, identity erasure, gender-affirming teaching, burnout, institutional harm, and the radical act of staying. You’ll hear conversations with teachers, professors, counselors, administrators, artists, and organizers who are: Teaching truth in hostile systems Building inclusive classrooms without self-sacrifice Reclaiming joy, rest, and collective care Refusing to disappear This podcast isn’t about fitting in. It’s about staying, surviving, and changing the system anyway. 🎙 New episodes weekly 🎧 Start with Episode 139: “5 Ways Queer Educators Can Build Inclusive Classrooms Without Burning Out”
Episodes
Welcome to Teaching While Queer. I’m your host, Bryan Stanton (he/they), a queer theatre educator in San Antonio, Texas. This podcast was born from a simple truth — that LGBTQIA+ educators need space to share our stories, celebrate our resilience, and learn from one another.
In this very first episode, I open up about my own journey — from being outed at thirteen to becoming a visible queer educator and advocate. I talk about t...
What does it mean to teach while queer in a country where inclusion and resistance collide? In this premiere episode, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) travels across the Atlantic to speak with Romain about teaching languages and advocating for inclusion in France. Together they reflect on growing up queer in a small town, finding love and security early in life, and how recent political movements in France mirror anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetor...
"You don’t have to mine your trauma to make good art. Teach with empathy, but protect your peace.”
In this episode of Teaching While Queer, host Bryan Stanton (he/they) sits down with Michael Musgrave-Perkins (he/him) — theatre department chair at Grand Center Arts Academy in St. Louis, Missouri — for an honest and insightful conversation about growing up gay in the Midwest, surviving being outed as a teen, and finding st...
“You can only be your authentic self when you’re safe — but even when you’re not, you can still leave glimpses of your light.”
In this deeply moving episode of Teaching While Queer, host Bryan Stanton (he/they) speaks with Dr. Jimmy Chrismon (he/him), a theatre education professor at Illinois State University, about navigating faith, fear, and authenticity as a queer educator.
Jimmy shares his powerful story of growing up ...
“Affirmation is not just saying, ‘I accept you.’ It’s saying, ‘You are beautiful — exactly as you are.’”
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health within the LGBTQIA+ community. Please listen with care.
In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, host Bryan Stanton (he/they) sits down with Dr. Lulu (she/they) — a retired U.S. Air Force pediatrician, TEDx speaker, author, and parent coach — ...
“Theatre is the one place where my students can take off their masks — not put them on. That’s the real performance: being yourself.”
n this episode of Teaching While Queer, host Bryan Stanton sits down with Abe Ramirez (he/him) — a high school theatre director in San Antonio — to talk about what it means to create safe, authentic spaces for queer students on and off the stage.
Abe opens up about his journey as a gay Latinx...
“Language affects what our brains think is possible — and once kids have the words, their world gets bigger.”
For theatre educators, teaching is about more than performance — it’s about creating brave spaces for self-discovery. 🎭 In this episode, host Bryan Stanton (they/them) sits down with Susannah Crowell (they/she), a nonbinary musical theatre educator, to discuss how theatre classrooms can become affirming laboratories fo...
“If you can’t teach through the lens of humanity, then what’s the point of the standards? The music won’t mean anything without compassion.”
In this heartfelt episode, Bryan Stanton (they/them) sits down with Ben Wilkinson (he/him) — a music educator, color guard coach, and proud queer teacher from Northern California — to explore how the arts can become a refuge for identity, empathy, and connection.
From surviving small-...
“I wanted every student I met to know they had one person on campus who would literally roll up to a teacher’s door for them — because I didn’t.”
This episode is for theatre educators, LGBTQ+ teachers, and school leaders who are striving to create classrooms where every student feels safe, seen, and valued — even after facing trauma or burnout.
In this deeply personal conversation, Bryan Stanton (they/them) sits down with ...
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