A teacher has shared a touching note he received from a nine-year-old student after he revealed he was gay.
Written on colourful notepaper it says: “Dear Mr XXX [redacted],
“Even though you’re gay, I will always treat you the same way as I do now. I still think about you the same way as I used to.
“You’re a great teacher and these are just some of the words that I would describe you as: Great, amazing, fantastic, brilliant, awesome and brave.
“The reason why I say brave is because you shared a personal secret which was very brave. You don’t have to feel scared because I know that everyone in the class feels the same way as I do.
“PS, We are proud of you.”
Got something in your eye? Here’s the backstory:
The teacher told Pink News he had always felt worried about mentioning his sexuality at the school but was prompted to share it during an anti-bullying week initiative.
“Then I asked who thought that people who were gay or lesbian were bad or wrong in some way, again almost every hand went up.”
He says he discussed the matter with the school’s headteacher and they agreed he could tell the class he was gay “so they at least knew one gay person and hopefully explain that when people use that word they’re talking about me.”
The letter came some days later, he explained: “Reading it brought tears to my eyes and it took me a little while to compose myself. When I thanked her she just shrugged and repeated something one of the boys had said during the lesson, ‘It’s just your life’. Then she went back to her maths.”