KATALYST FOR CHANGE

Meet Kat Crawford – Trailblazing Jefferson County Teacher

Teacher, writer, activist, mother, partner – call Kat Crawford any of these. But don’t ever call her conventional, complacent, or someone who just "goes with the flow." Kat Crawford is one of a very small number of Jefferson County educators who dares to be totally out. That means she’s out to her middle school students as well as her colleagues and administration. This is the story of an outspoken woman who’s making waves in the Jefferson County School District and refuses to return to the proverbial closet no matter who tells her she should.

Kat’s journey starts in 2001 with her coming out. Well, in her case, it was more like being thrown out! When she told her husband of 15 years she was a lesbian, let’s just say he didn’t take it very well. "The conversation turned into a confrontation. It became really ugly," she says. At the time Kat was teaching theology classes at an all-girl Catholic high school. When her husband ‘outed’ her to a couple of the school’s administrators, the reaction was anything but positive. "I was told I was touched by an evil spirit," Kat says. "She questioned my spirituality and my ability to teach in a Catholic school." Kat proactively resigned before they could fire her, which she believed was inevitable.

Kat had fallen in love with Cindi, a woman she met through her other job writing for a Catholic publishing company. Cindi relocated from Minneapolis to be with Kat in Louisville. Kat took a position teaching drama at a public middle school in Jefferson County. "I was under the impression that when I left the Catholic school and went to the public schools, being gay was not going to be an issue because of the Fairness ordinance in Louisville," Kat says. She was in for a rude awakening.

When filling out the initial paperwork for her new job, Kat listed Cindi as her emergency contact. "You don’t want to be out," Kat’s principal cautioned her. "I’m just trying to protect you." Kat was admonished again after choosing some bulletin board border for her classroom with a rainbow pattern on it. Kat says the principal accused her of "promoting" homosexuality. Then, an assistant principal told her she’d be better off living in San Francisco.

"So all the gay teachers should go to San Francisco?" was her response.

Kat Crawford wasn’t going anywhere. She decided to stay and make things better for GLBT teachers and school system employees in Jefferson County.

Kat joined and eventually became the chair of the Gay Lesbian Teacher caucus, which is an advisory group to the leadership of the teacher’s union. She helped form a group of community people, Fairness leaders and teachers in an effort to amend the school system’s anti-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This group has already met with a couple school board members and with the new superintendent. "We want to make the policies of this district that employs over 18,000 people match the protection of other Jefferson County employers, like GE, UPS, Humana, just like every other major employer," Kat says.

Jefferson County School District employees are protected by Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance, according to Kentucky Fairness Alliance Executive Director Christina Gilgor. There are some people, however, that say the school system falls under the jurisdiction of the state department of education, which does not have specific anti-discrimination language including sexual orientation. Nobody has ever put this issue to the test with a lawsuit since the Fairness Ordinance was passed.

Kat says she would like to see some basic changes in attitudes in our schools. "I want to see programs and professional development where there’s a real value placed on diversity." If the goal of protecting GLBT school system employees from discrimination is accomplished, then what? "Then we’ll have to tackle the students’ code of conduct which does not have that language in it."

Kat’s 17-year-old daughter Anna is one of those Jefferson County public school students. Anna, who recently came out herself, says she sees gay students often walk hand-in-hand through the hallways at school and that they generally feel accepted. However, both mother and daughter agree that something needs to be done about the hatred and harassment that still exists in our schools.

"I’d like to see the world become more open and more accepting of many types of families, many type of relationships," says Kat. "One of the ways we can do that is simply by living our lives openly and honestly with no hiding and no secrets. It’s only when we stand together, when we work together, when we’re in solidarity that we’re going to make a difference."

So why does this incredibly busy woman keep on fighting the fight so relentlessly? "I feel a real commitment to do this," she says. "I can’t imagine it any other way."

~G3 Illustrated welcomes Kat Crawford as a new Contributing Writer. Keep an eye out for her in the October issue. Thanks Kat!

By Chip Alfred