I have been public about my support for marriage equality - not necessarily in school, among students, but on social media. However, I have had homosexual students ask me about my thoughts on it. My response is always, "I hope you will some day have the same rights as everyone else." I often share my thoughts on immigration. In the past, students have seen me at marches. They know what I think about legal status for hard-working, undocumented families. I don't share my thoughts in class. However, when a student is deported, they see my anger. A few have seen my teachers. I don't tell students what I feel about abortion. However, they have heard me say "child" instead of "fetus" when my wife was pregnant with each of our kids. A few times, they have heard me mention the moment I almost thought we were going to lose Joel. Am I being political? Perhaps. Immigration, marriage equality and abortion are all hot political issues and people can hold nuanced views on each (for what it's worth, I call myself pro-life and pro-choice for a reason). However, these issues also transcend politics. They become issues of civil and human rights. Which leads me to a few questions:
To what extent should teachers share their political views? Is it okay for them to air their political views on social media? And at what point is a social issue a political issue?
