How Queer Educators Can Interrupt Bias & Model Brave Conversations | Ep. 183 (with Dr. Sean McGill)

This episode is for teachers, school leaders, and DEI facilitators who want to create more inclusive classrooms while navigating fear, burnout, and systemic bias. Bryan (they/them) talks with Sean McGill (he/him) — a Chicago-based educator, anti-bias facilitator, and doctoral researcher — about what it means to teach, train, and show up authentically as a queer man across classrooms, police academies, and digital spaces.

Listeners will learn how to:

• Interrupt bias in real time — even when you don’t know exactly what to say
• Model queer authenticity safely in K–12 and adult learning environments
• Build plans for bias response before harm happens
• Teach digital media literacy to help students recognize online hate and misinformation
• Balance vulnerability, safety, and advocacy in conservative or high-stakes contexts

Sean also shares insights from his upcoming dissertation on inclusive education and how his fourth-grade classroom became a model for age-appropriate queer visibility.

Key Takeaways

• Silence is complicity. When bias shows up, saying something matters more than saying it perfectly.
• Representation saves energy. Being visibly queer in education helps students imagine new possibilities for themselves.
• Digital literacy is bias literacy. Our media habits shape our worldviews and fuel polarization.
• Bias management > bias elimination. Awareness and response are the skills we must actually teach.
• Bravery is a muscle. The more we lean into discomfort, the stronger our justice practice becomes.

About Our Guest

Dr. Sean McGill (he/him) is a Chicago-based educator, facilitator, and doctoral candidate in Curriculum, Advocacy, and Policy at National Louis University. A former Chicago Public Schools teacher, Sean has spent over a decade leading anti-bias and digital literacy workshops for students, educators, and law enforcement nationwide. His work centers inclusive education, identity visibility, and the power of conversation to interrupt systemic harm.

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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.

Resources & Links

• Museum of Tolerance – Combat Hate Program
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (2024)
• National Louis University – Ed.D. in Curriculum, Advocacy, and Policy
• Teaching While Queer

Keywords

queer educators, bias interruption, inclusive education, digital media literacy, LGBTQ teachers, anti-bias training, queer representation in schools, managing implicit bias

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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