Cover Photo: A screenshot of the author on Zoom, smiling; he is wearing a colorful patterned vest and silver necklaces
Photograph courtesy of the author

I May Not Look Like a “Respectable” Teacher, But I’m a Good One

As part of our Education Week series, Edgar Gomez reflects on how presenting himself authentically as a teacher cultivates a more open and honest learning environment.


my

I can dress like themand get a cushy college gig after I graduate, or I can wear something that affirms my queer identity and stay broke forever.

Wait, are you allowed to say ? Is that professional?Quick, say something smart!

Ajar? Global warming? Girl, all of that is even weirder than when you said . Talk normal!

y’all

Was that too gay? Too Southern? Too Puerto Rican? Did I even pronounce that right? me

I talk like me: with a lisp, peppering every other sentence with “pero like,” clapping my hands to make points like my mom, bestowing snaps like my friends do when we hear something powerful. I teach like me: populating my syllabus with the writers whose work I admire, most of them BIPOC and/or queer and still alive.

every

My students like me in business casualbut what if I came in here with some eyeshadow on? In a skirt?

Work isn’t supposed to affirm youJust keep your head down and collect your check. Be grateful. Don’t complain.

Tell the truth.

High-Risk Homosexualin spite ofbecause

you

and

NoI don’t want to go back.Pretty Woman

High-Risk Homosexual

Edgar Gomez (he/she/they) is a Florida-born writer with roots in Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. A graduate of University of California, Riverside’s MFA program, he is a recipient of the 2019 Marcia McQuern Award for nonfiction. His words have appeared in Poets & Writers, Narratively, Catapult, Lithub, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Plus Magazine, and elsewhere online and in print. His memoir, High-Risk Homosexual, was named a Best LGBTQ Book by Harper’s Bazaar. He lives in New York and Puerto Rico. Find him on Twitter @OtroEdgarGomez.