We traveled up the great escape to the seventh grade classrooms where we sat down with seventh grade teacher Suzanne Cohen to talk about being gay in today’s harsh environments and political crisis, as well as what she wishes kids knew and were taught from an early age. She told us that she wishes words like gay and lesbian were used around kids from the time they were born so it’s not something they’re afraid of, and that their thought that it’s completely normal. She also said that in some ways she is afraid to walk down the street holding her wife’s hand because people look at them weirdly, or make comments. As an educator particularly she wants to help kids understand what it means to be gay. It really struck me when she said that she is sometimes afraid to hold her wife’s hand when they walk down the street because they will get looked at funny. And no one should go through that.

Suzanne talking to two students.