A new special issue of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series—“The Adventures of Trans Educators: A Comic Book Issue”—brings together comic artists and trans educators to share authentic, layered stories that reflect the lived experiences of trans educators working with children from preschool to high school. By using comics as a storytelling medium, this issue presents these stories in an accessible, visually compelling way that invites readers to engage deeply with the narratives.
In the Q&A below, guest editors Harper B. Keenan, inaugural Robert Quartermain Professor of Gender & Sexuality in Education at the University of British Columbia; Lee Iskander, artist and scholar working at the intersection of trans studies, curriculum studies, and teacher education; and Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, dean of liberal arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, offer a closer look at the issue’s theme and how this unique collaboration offers readers a window into educational spaces where trans educators actively shape young lives—both in school and out of school—through their knowledge, care, and creativity.
Q: What inspired the idea to collaborate with comic artists to tell the stories of trans educators through this special issue?
(Rachel): We hoped to create a rich text that was accessible, engaging, and easy to share for readers at a variety of literacy levels. Comics offer a rich medium that allows us to share multiple layers of storytelling and offer insights into the worlds of our writers and artists. Through collaboration, we fostered community and connection. We want to make more visible how image and narrative can combine to enrich the reading experience, build empathy, and capture people’s social imaginations. There is a unique satisfaction that comes with reading comics. As we say in the introduction, words are not enough.
Q: How do you envision comics as a medium enhancing the storytelling around trans educators’ experiences in educational settings?
(Harper): Right now, there’s a lot of debate about trans people in schools, but very little direct engagement with actual trans people who work in schools. Comics are a great way of visually representing the daily lives of trans educators, and making our presence undeniable.
Q: Can you talk about the importance of centering trans voices in educational discourse?
(Lee): Too often, conversations about trans people and education center on how trans people are harmed by educational institutions or targeted by anti-trans legislation. While these things are worthy of our attention, they risk offering a flattened portrayal of trans life. Further, focusing on responding to backlash or harm allows anti-trans forces, rather than trans people themselves, to set the terms of the conversation. By centering trans voices, as we do in this special issue, we are able to offer more complex, humanizing stories that allow us to see not only the struggles but the joy and insight trans people bring to educational environments.
Q: What are some of the unique challenges and opportunities that trans educators face, and how do you hope this issue will highlight them?
(Harper): There’s a lot of unfounded fear about how exposure to transness might somehow corrupt young minds, but this issue highlights the incredible commitment of trans educators to their work, and the important knowledge and care they offer to their students.
Q: What do you hope educators, students, and the general public take away from reading these comics?
(Lee): It has been incredibly exciting and rewarding for us as editors to see these comics through from conceptualization to completion. Throughout the process, our author-artist teams have paid careful attention to the narrative, craft, artistry, and overall message of their comics. We hope readers will walk away from this special issue with a sense of the expansiveness of trans educators’ lives, an appreciation for the work teachers do, and an excitement about the potential of comics as a medium for sharing stories about teaching and learning.