156. When Politicians Come After Queer Educators: Navigating Safety, Censorship, and Survival

Jed Dearybury faced death threats and political attacks—just for being a gay educator who spoke the truth.

In this searing episode, Jed shares how being visible as a queer teacher in South Carolina put a target on his back—from right-wing Twitter mobs to local politicians who openly threatened his job and safety. Despite the harassment, Jed continues to teach, speak, and advocate with joy, humor, and relentless love for his community.

Listeners will hear:

• How queer visibility in schools became a political battleground
• What it feels like to be publicly attacked for your identity—and how to survive it
• Strategies for queer educators balancing authenticity with safety in hostile environments

This episode isn’t just about one teacher—it’s about all of us fighting for space in classrooms we helped build.

Tap play to hear how Jed turned political persecution into power.

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This podcast explores the challenges and successes of queer representation in education, tackling topics like burnout, tokenism, doxing, and the role of advocacy in building inclusive classrooms, safe spaces, and anti-bullying strategies. It centers support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, aromantic, agender, two-spirit, and non-binary teachers, and addresses how gender identity in schools can be honored to combat isolation and foster community.

The podcast explores the challenges and successes of Queer representation in education, addressing issues such as burnout, tokenism, doxing, and the importance of advocacy in creating inclusive classrooms, safe spaces, and anti-bullying strategies, with a focus on supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, aromantic, agender, two-spirit, and non-binary teachers and gender identity in schools to combat the feeling of isolation and lack of community.

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