{"id":4691,"date":"2015-08-23T15:04:26","date_gmt":"2015-08-23T15:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=4691"},"modified":"2015-08-23T15:05:18","modified_gmt":"2015-08-23T15:05:18","slug":"gay-international-school-teachers-can-you-feel-comfortable-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/gay-international-school-teachers-can-you-feel-comfortable-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Gay International School Teachers: Can You Feel Comfortable Everywhere?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all international school teachers, it is hard to adapt to your new host country. \u00a0For gay international school teachers, it can be even more of a challenge. \u00a0In recent months, it made world news that the USA’s government legalized gay marriage. \u00a0Not all countries have gone down a similar path though. As a result, there are varying gay rights (or lack there of) across the globe.<\/p>\n

\"2011<\/a><\/p>\n

Regardless of the kinds of gay rights the country has, there are definitely gay international school teachers and couples that work at international schools all over the world. But like we all know, not all countries (and schools for that matter) are all that welcoming to gay teachers. On the other hand, some schools (and the countries they are in) are very<\/em> welcoming.<\/p>\n

Maybe a good strategy for gay teachers is to just ask the administration during their interview, to ask them how things are at their school and in their country. \u00a0Better to know more information before you decide to sign a contract with a school. \u00a0Some schools might respond by telling you that they currently have gay teachers working there and that they don’t experience any discrimination both at work and in the community. Other international schools will stare back at you blankly, not knowing how to respond to your direct question about being gay at their school. \u00a0If a school shows hesitation, it might be a good indicator that they are indeed not the best fit for you at that time.<\/p>\n

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You might say though, that regardless of what the administration says,\u00a0it is important to do your research about each city and country. Even if the gay rights are not so progressive in a certain country, it does not mean that you should give up an opportunity to work there. \u00a0There are always other gay people to connect with once you arrive, both in the community and hopefully also at your school.<\/p>\n

A great website to stay up-to-date with the current events (all things gay related) of each country is globalgayz.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another great resource is the International School Community website.\u00a0Using our\u00a0Comments Search<\/a><\/strong> feature, we found 33 comments<\/a>\u00a0(a premium membership feature) that talked about what life is like for gay people in that city. Here are just a few that we would like to highlight:<\/p>\n

“The city is huge and very diverse. City center is inhabited by lower-income citizens, as it’s very loud and dirty. The city is muslim and definitely not gay<\/strong>-friendly, though you could see a gay<\/strong> bar here and there and there was a transsexual pride going on this year. The city itself is very lively, with nice bars and cafes in a walking street Yeni Carsi near Taksim square.” –\u00a0MEF International School Istanbul <\/a>(Istanbul, Turkey)<\/span> – 50 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Berlin has a long history as being gay<\/strong> friendly. Sch\u00f6neberg is considered the gay<\/strong>part of the city, and if you walk anywhere southern form Lietzenburger Stra\u00dfe you will see a lot of rainbow flags on balconies as well as in bars and shops. If you want to avoid nightlife, don’t live in Kreuzberg: this is the party\/hipster area. Friedrichshein and Prenzauler Berg are emerging as a very popular places to live, and the prices in these neighbourhoods are rising. Charlottenburg is a very nice and quiet neighbourhood especially for the ones for kids and it’s not far from anything (check out Goethestra\u00dfe area).” –\u00a0Berlin International School <\/a>(Berlin, Germany)<\/span> – 12 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I’ve heard from my gay<\/strong> friend here that dating can be a bit difficult. If you’ve seen the new show last year called Looking, then that pretty much is accurate in our dating is here for gay<\/strong> men. There are definitely endless bars to go to at night. Just be careful of the location of the bar and how safe is it there at night. Good to use Uber to get yourself home after you dance the night away!” –International High School of San Francisco <\/a>(San Francisco, United States)<\/span> – 37 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Do not go to a night club unless you know they are foreigner friendly. Fights occur at the other ones.\u00a0There is a gay<\/strong> club in town, but homosexuality “does not exist” in their way of thinking\/culture.\u00a0Ulaanbaatar (UB) is the ugliest city in the world in the world’s most beautiful country.\u00a0UB is quiet, as their aren’t that many people.\u00a0A great place for a single male, but couples may find it boring. Many foreign women marry Mongolian men, too, so it’s okay on that front.” –\u00a0Orchlon School <\/a>(Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)<\/span> – 68 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I had friends who were gay<\/strong> that had no troubles while living here, they just maintain a low profile…not all over one another in public. I made sure to avoid public displays of affection while out with my husband too though. I mean, it is an ultra-conservative society and one should behave accordingly. We also wore clothing that covered our shoulders and our knees because of respect for the locals which are uncomfortable with all the skin that Westerners like to show off. My husband and I are a mixed race couple and we had no issue with that at all. We did not know what to expect when we came to Cairo but for two years we were treated very well and never experienced any racism that we noticed.” –\u00a0Misr American College <\/a>(Cairo, Egypt)<\/span> – 37 Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For all international school teachers, it is hard to adapt to your new host country. \u00a0For gay international school teachers, it can be even more of a challenge. \u00a0In recent months, it made world news that the USA’s government legalized gay marriage. \u00a0Not all countries have gone down a similar path though. As a result, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[2157,2160,2155,2158,2159,2156,60],"class_list":["post-4691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlighted-articles","tag-being-gay","tag-country-rights","tag-gay","tag-gay-international-school-teachers","tag-gay-life","tag-gay-teachers","tag-teaching-abroad"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/5823033786_a824cb0c3b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-1dF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8308,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/lgbt-friendly-insight-into-12-international-schools-and-their-countries\/","url_meta":{"origin":4691,"position":0},"title":"Is Your New Workplace a LGBTQ+ Friendly International School?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"March 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It could very well be that you are going to an LGBTQ+ Friendly International School, but your host country culture is not.","rel":"","context":"In "Discussion Topics"","block_context":{"text":"Discussion Topics","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/discussion-topics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-10.46.26-1.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-10.46.26-1.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-10.46.26-1.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-10.46.26-1.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-10.46.26-1.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6462,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/11-member-submitted-comments-related-single-international-school-teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":4691,"position":1},"title":"11 Member-Submitted Comments Related to Single International School Teachers","author":"ISCommunity","date":"November 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With the hiring season upon us, there is a divide amongst us international school teachers. Will the international school you are interviewing with prefer to hire a teaching couple or a single teacher? 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