Betsy Parsons
Background
For 30 years, Betsy Parsons (1954-2019) taught English in Portland high schools and fiercely advocated for Maine LGBTQ+ youth. In 1996 she observed that anti-gay hostility, language, and verbal and physical harassment were on the rise in high school hallways and classrooms. Consequently, she helped found the Southern Maine Chapter of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network), which fights to ensure safe schools and spaces for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. She led the way statewide in establishing approximately 90 student clubs called GSAs (Gender and Sexuality Alliances, previously Gay-Straight Alliances or Gay-Straight Transgender Alliances) for which she encouraged student leaders and advisors and provided continued support. A convergence of pivotal student-related experiences in 1998 convinced Betsy that she could make more of a difference in students’ lives if she came out as a lesbian, despite the certain personal and professional costs and risks of doing so. During a class discussion of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Scarlet Letter" about stigma and judgment of the main character, Hester, Betsy announced to the class that she was a lesbian and said:In the novel, we see how different people respond to stigma. And we see Hester’s decision to live openly and turn her energy into something healing for her community. I am now changing my way to Hester’s way. What way will you all choose? (Mason Funk, The Book of Pride, p.235)One of the first public school teachers in Maine to come out publicly, she taught many more years as an openly lesbian teacher, setting an example which offered hope, love and inspiration to students who felt lonely, isolated or afraid. Betsy received several awards for her teaching and LGBTQ+ advocacy and in 2019 was recognized with a legislative sentiment by the Maine Legislature for her leadership in making schools safe for students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. That said, she was humble, shunned the limelight, and always wanted the fruits of her labor to focus on the youth for whom she advocated. Betsy came from a long line of Maine families and teachers. Her mother was born and grew up in Portland while her father hailed from the woods of western Maine. Thus, the perpetual argument in the family household was about which was better: the Maine coast or its mountains. Her parents moved to the Midwest after Betsy was born where they served their community for many decades, her father as a doctor and her mother as a high school English teacher. Summer trips were always taken home to Maine. The oldest of five children, Betsy never wavered from what she knew at an early age: that she wanted to grow up and be a teacher in Maine. Her first job out of college was teaching English at Portland High School in 1977, and she never left her beloved city by the sea. Determined and unflagging, Betsy believed public school education is a human right and essential building block of democracy. This credo, combined with an ambition to serve and heal others, which she learned from her parents, is what drove her. She tirelessly fought for causes that encouraged equality for everyone, regardless of race, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic background.
