Gay teacher explains attire in White House photo
When Rhode Island’s teacher of the year took his turn in front of the camera with President Donald Trump in April, he struck a pose some took as an act of defiance:
Nikos Giannopoulos cocked his head ever so slightly away from the president, toward a black lace fan he had brought with him. He wore a rainbow pin on his lapel, a ring through his nose and a gold anchor around his neck.
“Bold, Gay Teacher Of The Year Photo Bombs Don- ald Trump With Fan,” was Huff Post’s first headline (later toned down) after Mr. Giannopoulos posted the photo on Facebook on Thursday and quickly amassed thousands of shares.
“A fierce pose,” the Daily Mail wrote.
Mr. Giannopoulos, who only received the photo recently, did not sound fierce on the phone with The Washington Post. His attire in the Oval Office, he explained, was more or less the same style he wore in the classroom at the small Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket, where his work as a specialeducation teacher won him Rhode Island’s teacher of the year award and a trip to the White House in April.
“The issue with being openly queer is our existence is constantly politicized,” he said. “They never stop to think: Oh, maybe that’s just who I am.”
And yet, the teacher acknowledged, there was a certain social significance in his decision to dress as himself to a White House that has revoked federal protections for transgender students, erased an LGBT
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rights page from its website and hired at least one adviser who appears to believe in gay conversion.
The 29-year-old teacher’s work with the school’s gaystraight alliance helped win him the award. When he interviewed with state officials about it, he said, he made sure to dress no differently than he did with his students — “with a bit of flair.”
And so by extension, Mr. Giannopoulos felt, he had to dress the same way in Washington. Perhaps with just a touch more flair.
Civil rights mandates
The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama administration that the new leadership says have bogged down the agency.
At the same time, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights — an independent watchdog created by Congress — has voted to investigate federal civil rights enforcement under Mr. Trump, with the majority expressing “grave concerns” about the Trump administration’s proposal to cut spending and staffing on civil rights efforts at multiple agencies.
House Oversight gavel
Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina secured one of Congress’ most powerful investigative posts last week when he was voted in as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.