American Federation of Teachers President offers lesson plan on Bruce Jenner, transgender issues

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Bruce Jenner’s explosive interview where he came out as a transgender woman and a Republican might be coming to a classroom near you.

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, tweeted out, “Help students discuss transgender issues w/ this lesson based on the Bruce Jenner interview” Thursday.

Weingarten links to a lesson plan that states the progress LGBTQ people and issues have made, but concludes that until Jenner, the “T” has received much less attention.

That lesson plan’s author, Jinnie Spiegler of the Anti-Defamation League, includes information on how a majority of transgender people in school face harassment and family rejection.

The lesson ends by stating that research supports the idea that heterosexual people with gay and lesbian friends have more positive attitudes towards gay marriage.

“If it is true that knowing someone gay or lesbian has contributed to the personal and political progress our country has made, that should hold true for transgender awareness also,” Spiegler wrote in the plan.

“Perhaps Bruce Jenner’s decision to come out, as many less famous people have before him, will be the tipping point for moving toward reversing this bias and discrimination for transgender people.”

The questions Spiegler and Weingarten want teachers to ask their students include:

Spiegler also shows resources in the report about Bruce Jenner’s story, transgender and identity issues, and how gender stereotypes affect them.

Red Alert Politics reached out to Weingarten to ask what grade level this lesson is intended for, but received no response.