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InstitutionsNSTA: Letter to the editor
Posted August 6, 2021 by DebraKadabra in STEM

The other day I posted a pdf of this article from The Science Teacher, a trusted publication from the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) that supports science instruction at the high school level. The short of it is the new editor's first issue focused on social justice in the science classroom. As part of trans-inclusion there was an article written by a science teacher whose husband transitioned. This article was very pro-trans and discussed strategies for teachers to make trans students feel included.

In the next issue there was an unprecedented Letter to the Editor section - there's always a few in every issue but it's either positive letters or minor corrections. The pdf of the response is in pdf form here.

This letter was drafted by the folx at Gender Inclusive Biology (GIB) which I have posted about before. As we here at Ovarit have noticed, and often warn women who attempt to "be kind" it is never enough. If you read through the letter, they ask for the whole article removed, but also asked for certain parts to be removed and language to be changed. It's hinted at that the crime here is that the article writer is not a transperson, and therefore NSTA should have found a trans person to speak on this issue. (Is Sam Long shilling for attention to GIB and it's founders?) Never mind that most of the readers of this publication are not trans and so her perspective would be relevant for what she, a normal woman, does with regards to trans inclusion. Not that I agree with her, but saying her perspective is irrelevant is wrong.

The letter also complains about how sensitivity towards names and pronouns was handled poorly, yet in the professional development I've experienced, updated recommendations suggest not to do the things that the letter to the editor recommends either.

There is no pleasing them.

One last thing I'll point out: When I read the letter to the editor, I appreciated that GIB clarified the difference between transgender and intersex. However, once I took a look at their lesson materials I see they fly dangerously close to conflating those things. Also ironic that in the letter, they refer to people who identify as intersex.

Anyway, thank you for taking a look. I'll have you al know, the article had not been taken of the NSTA archives as requested when I looked last, so at least there's that.

7 comments

lucreciaAugust 6, 2021(Edited August 6, 2021)

"It is both exciting and humbling to be part of this dialogue"

Guessing that translates to "I feel sick and anxious in the pit of my stomach, quite hurt, indignant, and 500x closer to peaking than I was when I wrote the article, but female-socialisation demands that I phrase it like this. I intend to avoid the lot of you from now on; I haven't yet recognised that you're bullies that get off on 'correcting' people incessantly and arbitrarily for a sense of power, but I DO know that I feel like shit every time you talk to me. Next time you want an ally, find someone else."

DebraKadabra [OP]August 6, 2021(Edited August 6, 2021)

That's right, ha ha!

Other than giving the GIB people an online session at the last NSTA conference, I haven't seen anything more of their's included in further NSTA publications. Edit: I bring this up because it seems like the arm twisting didn't work to get GIB more front and centered.

I sent my own long letter to the editor myself, after seeing this letter to the editor, telling her to tread carefully with this topic because this group is very protective of their own ever shifting positions and also because it is completely unscientific to begin with. And also told her I ended my subscription and membership because of the inclusion of trans issues.

I really hope the trans-widow teacher peaks before too long!

MikkalAugust 6, 2021(Edited August 6, 2021)

Honestly - I'd rather have them publish "letters to the editor" so it's transparent that they are receiving these letters, rather than hide them away and make changes as demanded, with no acknowledgment of the pressure they are under.

I wouldn't want them to take either down - maybe make a note "this is considered controversial and has generated a lot of feedback you can also review here". Taking it down is silencing the discussion all together.

Edit:

Now that I've skimmed to article and the letter, the fact that their response to THIS is to publish it is BRILLIANT and BRAVE. I hope they don't back down!

Our immediate ask is that you withdraw the article from publication on the NSTA website and publicly acknowledge the issues highlighted in this letter in order to prevent misapplication by teachers in their classrooms.

DebraKadabra [OP]August 6, 2021

I am so glad both the original article and the letter to the editor are still there on the NSTA site - it means they did not capitulate to the request Sam Long made. I hope it stays forever as an artifact of the attempts on institutional capture, even something as niche as an American high school science teacher publication. If the NSTA ever does delete these resources, well, I've got the digital copies I shared here, but I also have saved a physical copy of those two issues as well.

MikkalAugust 6, 2021

They actually had the original author respond to the letters too... I'm stunned. Every publication should be handling feedback in this manner - being transparent about it, allowing discussion, etc.

HollyhockAugust 6, 2021

Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick, you can't identify with being intersex anymore than you can identify with being diabetic. Identify is such a stupid word now.

DebraKadabra [OP]August 6, 2021

Sounds like someone needs to examine their internalized glucose-phobia. /s