ABSTRACT
Darrell Chart-Boyles is Deputy Head of Colchester Royal Grammar School. He has 16 years of experience and has taught in four very different schools. He holds Specialist Leader of Education status for his work supporting equality and diversity at secondary school level, and he achieved a Stonewall School Champion Silver Award for his work on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and others (LGBT+) inclusivity at his previous school. In this chapter, Darrell once again shows what so many of us have in common. When we become teachers, we often feel the need to 'retreat' back to an identity we adopted before we were 'out'. We do this to protect ourselves, and we answer personal questions with intentionally vague responses and self-mediation. Darrell followed a path that worked for him in order that he could finally be his authentic self, beginning with finding like-minded professionals in a union and concluding with being an openly gay Deputy Head.
