A Road Trip to Love

Dear Arizona Daily Star, My name is Chris Tompkins and I am a teacher in Los Angeles. I was born and raised in Tucson and my mom is a longtime reader of the Star. In addition to being a teacher, I am a writer and an LGBTQ advocate. One of my forms of advocacy is bringing awareness to language and the messages we use that can continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes of the LGBTQ community. My mom just sent me the Feb. 5 article written by Howard Fischer titled, “New school

Last month, at an educational event, I spoke on a panel with an elementary school teacher who has two decades’ worth of experience. She shared a personal revelation about heteronormativity in the classroom: Even though she is a supportive and affirming mother of an LGBT child, it had never occurred to her that the questions she asked her students and the examples she used in the classroom always put forth a heteronormative perspective. It wasn’t until she recently ran into on

Michelle’s mother realized she’s transgender one night while consoling her after a panic attack. She said Michelle began getting really bad panic attacks before bed when she was 10 years old. On this one particular night while rocking her in her arms, Michelle asked her a question. Not raising her in a particular religion, she was shocked at what she asked. Through her tears, she asked, “Mom, you wouldn’t lie to me would you? If I asked you something, you wouldn’t lie?” She s

“Uncle Chris, is she your girlfriend?” Suddenly I was a teen again. I felt like I did before I was out of the closet and someone would bring up the word “gay.” I could feel the hair on my neck rise, the color burn into my cheeks and the knot in my stomach. How is it that I, who have been out of the closet for 10 years, who’s life is dedicated to LGBT advocacy work, an individual who mentors gay youth and prides himself on visibility, who was in fact visiting Arizona to give a