We Don't Talk About You

Location

Shit I Can't Say To My Teacher really should be Shit I'm Not Supposed To Say To My Teacher
There's an everlasting system of authority that makes it impossible for me to ask questions
except for “What is a predicate noun, again? I didn't catch it the first time.”
What I Can't Say To My Teacher are things like
“Did you know THEY is a singular pronoun?”
Because their PhD can invalidate my I.D.
Because they're 1)older
2)married
3)straight
4)cisgender

What I Can't Say To My Teacher is anything that validates
me
Because I'm given a barcode number to adhere to
I must have a binary gender to adhere to as well
What I Can't Say To My Teacher is
Why don't we read anything
With kids like me in it?
Why are they not allowed to discuss anything outside of the American Dream ™

What I Can't Say To My Teacher is
Why don't we talk about why they treat women like they do in this story
Why all of our stories are about men being heroic
or women falling in love
But nothing with roles reversed
Nothing with neither

What I Can't Say To My Teacher is there's a reason I want to teach
Is so I don't follow them
Because how can I tell lies and omissions to children
Who might be waiting for me to talk about these things
Because how can I let future students go to a school, and leave
thinking that their teacher wouldn't be able to get married to her wife
or even take her husbands last name?

What I Can't Say To My Teacher is when do I get my representation
When will the ignorant douchebags who still think gay is an insult
be taught otherwise
When will there be a class
to teach courtesy

What I Can't Say To My Teacher is when will it be okay to be myself?

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