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Brittni Laura Hernandez, a middle school language arts teacher in Greeley, has seen a change in her students over the last few years: Young people who identify as LGBTQ have become bolder, demanding that teachers and others call them by their correct pronouns and names.

鈥淪tudents are definitely more confident, and they鈥檙e finding more community with each other,鈥� Hernandez said.听

She sees it as a positive shift, but Hernandez also believes that there鈥檚 still a lot more work to be done before classrooms across Colorado are truly welcoming for young people from all backgrounds.

The educator is one-third of the team behind , launched in 2014 by Bethy Leonardi and Sara Staley, now assistant professors in the School of Education at CU 麻豆影院. The organization seeks to help build schools that are safe and humanizing for all young people鈥攑roviding teachers with resources around how they can support students who identify as LGBTQ and foster honest conversations about gender and sexuality in the classroom.

Next month, the trio, plus a talented group of graduate students and faculty from the School of Education, will host their third . The two-day event will bring together about 450 K-12 teachers to connect with and learn from each other.

Just before Denver鈥檚 Pride weekend, the AQE team sat down with CU 麻豆影院 Today to talk about their work and how teachers shape what kids consider 鈥渘ormal.鈥� 听

What is A Queer Endeavor?

STALEY: We work in partnership with districts and school communities to break the historical silence that has surrounded LGBTQ topics in schools. We focus on supporting educator learning so that educators can do right by LGBTQ youth and create learning environments that are safe and humanizing for all young people, with a particular emphasis on LGBTQ youth.

How has the landscape for your work changed, or not, since you launched A Queer Endeavor in 2014?

LEONARDI: What鈥檚 the expression?

STALEY: The more things change, the more things stay the same.

LEONARDI: When we first started doing this work, very few people in local schools were talking about pronouns. Transgender people weren鈥檛 in the media as much. Even how the word 鈥渜ueer鈥� is being used has changed. It鈥檚 become more common.

STALEY: Colorado has more policies on the books. Today, the state has legislation that says whether or not you鈥檙e an effective teacher depends on creating a safe learning environment for a diverse population of students, and that includes LGBTQ students.

Have teachers also seen a shift in students?

LEONARDI: Youth have been more bold in their demands on the education system and educators, and so have parents.听

HERNANDEZ: I had students this year who were unapologetic. They would say, 鈥淭his teacher didn鈥檛 call me by my correct pronouns. They didn鈥檛 call me by my name. Who can I talk to?鈥�

I imagine that you hear from a lot of parents and others who say that teachers shouldn鈥檛 be talking about gender and sex in schools. Why do you think it鈥檚 important?

LEONARDI: We are teaching about gender and sexuality in schools all the time. We are teaching about race all the time. We鈥檙e just teaching it in a way that makes most people comfortable because it鈥檚 what is considered normal.

So schools help to define what鈥檚 normal or not?听

LEONARDI: Yes, and educators don鈥檛 even have to explicitly mention race, gender or sexuality to do that. It鈥檚 about who we learn is smart, whose stories we learn are worth reading, who thinkers and scientists are. We grew up learning that white people write books, and in those books, if there is a person of color, they鈥檙e downtrodden. The white person saves them.

If you think about what it means to be in love and be in a relationship, all the stories we read are about straight people.

HERNANDEZ: That鈥檚 why getting at those norms is so important. You have teachers who say, 鈥淵es, diversity. I鈥檓 on board,鈥� but you still see those norms and practices that are hurting students.

There鈥檚 been significant pushback recently around teaching the histories and experiences of people who don鈥檛 fit into the 鈥渘orm.鈥� What do you think when you hear those criticisms?

LEONARDI: To be honest, this question makes me tired. I鈥檓 tired of justifying the work that we do. There鈥檚 no justification needed. I鈥檓 a human being, and LGBTQ youth are human beings. What if we flipped that question and asked people what they are so afraid of?

Can you tell me about your upcoming educator institute?

STALEY: We want it to be a connected space, for educators, by educators, where people can come together and learn together. Often what happens is that you鈥檙e the only person doing this work in your school, and it鈥檚 very isolating. So, we want to draw educators from around the state to build community.

LEONARDI: The theme of this year鈥檚 institute is about moving toward collaborative liberation. We don鈥檛 believe that鈥檚 possible unless we work together鈥攁cross identities and across movements. We want to create an experience where we honor that this work is about people, not 鈥渋ssues鈥� or 鈥減olitics,鈥� and we want to come together in solidarity to take action.