The Rules:
Clone thyselfLearn teleportation. The sooner the better.Trust no one.
These are the rules I learned as a middle school teacher, though it was the last one that drove me from the classroom forever. Like many educators, I couldn't survive the politics. After thirteen years, I bailed. How did I, an abuse-surviving queer, end up teaching in the middle of the Bible Belt? Better yet, how did I survive?
New Rule:
Neither my silence nor my identity is for sale at any price.
My former vice principal said it best
(though I wasn't supposed to see that email)
when he asked, "Why does she always have to write a damn novel?"
So here I am. Writing a
damn
novel. As to the why...because I believe in changing the world, one word at a time.
Navigating discrimination, whether it's from employers, medical professionals, colleagues, or family, is often fraught with uncertainty. Join Raven Oak on their journey of transition and self-discovery in a world built on silence.