- Thea Canby is a trans teacher who runs a school in Georgia where the majority of students are trans.
- Canby explained to them that the state government had banned gender-affirming childcare.
- Canby takes her students to the statehouse and protests to show them how to fight for their rights.
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In March, Thea Canby, a 38-year-old trans woman who teaches at a queer-centric microschool in Georgia, watched a livestream of lawmakers voting on Senate Bill 140.
The law would strip transgender youth of their right to gender-affirming care in the state. It would also criminalize doctors who perform gender-affirming surgeries, prescribe puberty blockers, or give hormone therapy to children and adolescents. This is despite the fact that the American Medical Association has told states that gender-affirming care is necessary for the mental and physical health of trans and non-binary children.
Most of Canby’s students are transgender children between the ages of 11 and 17. As state lawmakers voted on their students’ rights, Canby watched the live stream from her desk at the school she co-founded.
The law passed and Governor Brian Kemp signed it into law in March. Canby hesitated to break the news to her students. But she said she had to.
“As a trans educator for primarily trans students, I make sure they understand the state of trans rights in Georgia and understand that this law takes away their right to gender-affirming healthcare,” Canby said. She asked insiders not to give the school’s name to protect the students’ identities.
The American Civil Liberties Union has said it is prosecuting more than 450 anti-LGBTQ laws in the United States. And in Georgia, trans students have already been banned from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.
Civic engagement is part of the course at the micro school
At Canby’s micro school, students and teachers work together to create the agenda for the day. Their coursework is typically project-based and they usually work in groups. Sometimes the majority of the day is spent outside, while other days the students focus on an indoor project.
“The kids at our school are used to taking control of their own learning and knowing how to access information on their own,” Canby said. “They are all free to spend their time however they wish. We’re just guiding them to use their time wisely and give them opportunities to learn or explore something they’re not familiar with.”
Canby and her co-teacher also take their students on biennial field trips to the Georgia State Capitol. She says students met senators and congressmen by name and even cracked inside jokes with some of them. The students know their way around the gold-topped Parliament building, including where the gender-neutral bathroom is located.
Canby takes these transgender students to the Capitol to meet with local leaders so they can describe the hate they face in public schools and on the streets.
“This is the ultimate civics class,” Canby said. “My students are fighters. Not because they want to, but because they have to be. They are watching this process and there will be a tipping point in the future when they start to control it more on their own.”
She added that trans people in the South often experience harassment, loss of their rights and a sense of security when entering buildings.
The students regularly take part in protests together
“At protests,” Canby said, “I stood shoulder to shoulder with my students as we were called insults and told we were going to hell.”
Canby described feeling protective of her students during these moments of activism, especially the young ones, who are not spared being derogated by adults at these protests. She described a protest where she was proud of her co-teacher Cole for shaming a man who used demeaning language on one of her youngest students.
“Thankfully, my students are loved—both here at our queer-centric microschool and in their homes,” Canby said. “They know they deserve better. And that’s why they fight.”
Canby said she’s concerned lawmakers are trying to erase trans history and trans people — including their future
In early March, Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, argued at the Conservative Political Action Conference that “transgenderism must be completely eradicated from public life.” The audience applauded.
Canby said there are some allies in Georgia. In a March speech urging lawmakers to vote against Senate Bill 140, State Rep. Karla Drenner told trans youth, “Please don’t give up.” She added, “This world is worth it. We need them.”
Canby said that while passage of the bill is devastating, she is committed to fighting for a future where trans children can just feel like kids.
“My goal is to help my students survive and thrive,” she said.
