Who is Skye Tooley? Teacher who identifies as 'trans demiboy' posts about teaching elementary kids pronouns
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Skye Tooley, a teacher from California's Saturn Street Elementary school posted on social media about using a gender-fluid stuffed animal to teach children how to use proper pronouns. The teacher identifies as "trans demiboy non-binary."
In a TikTok video, they used soft toys to depict how to use proper pronouns. In the video, the teacher can be seen saying, “This is a lama unicorn… I thought it was so cute to let my kids name the llama unicorn. It was a mistake. So this little llama is gender-fluid; we will be practicing pronouns with this little llama," reported New York Post.
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The educator stated, "Children are very much ready for these topics and are way more accepting than adults when it comes to discussing these topics and talk about gender, gender assumptions, pronouns, all the things. And it is child development-appropriate and age-appropriate. I started talking [to students] about Norbert the Narwhal … who uses they/them pronouns, and we practice making mistakes with their pronouns as well as correcting them," as per New York Post.
The teacher has also claimed, “I diligently push to create a safe space and brave space for my students. We work on being uncomfortable, challenged, and communicating. We work to understand our identity, bias, and privilege,” on the school's website. They also stated that the school has its own rainbow club. “The rainbow club is effectively a GSA for elementary… One wonderful thing about the rainbow club is talking about different identities, talking about who we are, and talking about how to support the LGBTQ+ community. Students may not necessarily be out, but they are excited to learn and help others."
Who is Skye Tooley?
According to Learning for Justice, "Skye has worked to recreate elementary curriculum with a social justice focus and have worked to actively engage their learners in lessons around identity, diversity, equity, action and justice." The website also suggested, "They have been involved in union work in their Los Angeles community including the 2018 Los Angeles teacher strike. They have given presentations on LGBTQ+ focused topics to educators across the United States including NCTE 2019."
"They are a participating partner with the Flux Institute, and they have published articles with We Are Teachers and Learning for Justice on activism and pronouns. Skye currently teaches 5th grade and works closely with their friend Ace Schwarz to create inclusive content on their Patreon: Growing Outside the Binary. They live with their partner and their adorable dog Terrance in Los Angeles," it further added.
Skye also said, “All of this to say that the gender binary is constantly harming us day to day. Only a few people gain power from it. Everyone else is trying to conform to the societal norms. This harm, as we’re already seeing, starts at a young age. Educators specifically on the elementary side will be like, ‘Well, I can’t teach LGBTQ+ because they’re just not ready for that.… Our kids … are queer. They’re questioning, they’re wondering. They want to see this. You should just be discussing it so that people know how to show respect and empathy," reported New York Post.
Skye has also written in one of the blogs, Heinemann blog, about the journey of finding their identity. They wrote, "I remember at a young age feeling not quite a girl and not quite a boy. I wanted to wear baggy clothes and do “boy” things. I didn’t want to be a boy, but I certainly was not okay with the frills and makeup-wearing side of “girls.” Further, they added, "I suffered from depression, anxiety (still do). I struggled with societal pressures to be feminine and being okay with my body. As an adult, I began coming across stories of people who had similar experiences, like my good friend Ace Schwarz who identifies as nonbinary and Jacob Tobias who lives their life as gender free and queer."