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Of course that was a rhetorical question.
"It’s two-fold. It really hits hard in my heart professionally and personally both. Professionally it truly makes me feel like I am not trusted as a professional," [kindergarten teacher Cory] Bernaert said.
While Bernaert insisted that sexual identity is not in his curriculum, he argued that Florida should allow conversations regarding sexual identity to occur in school.
"We should be able to have discussions, and that’s what we’re encouraged to do in kindergarten. Personally because my kids do have questions. They want to know who my partner is in pictures outside the classroom, and I should be able to speak to them," Bernaert said.
Vossoughian asked whether Bernaert was concerned about whether he could discuss his home life. Bernaert admitted his concerns and said discussion about his home life is part of his role as an educator.
"That’s what we do as educators, we build relationships with our kids. And in order to build relationships, you talk about your home life, you talk about what you do on the weekends. That’s building community. It scares me that I am not going to be able to have these conversations with my children because they’re going to ask about what I did on the weekend. I don’t want to have to hide that my partner and I went paddle-boarding this weekend because then they will ask, 'What does partner mean, Mr. Bernaert?’ I’m worried, can I tell them what it means?" Bernaert asked.
