OUR PRIDE Shorts & Arts Fest partner organization, the international Charter for Compassion, featured an interview with author Willie Edward Taylor Carter, Jr. in their Global Reads series hosted by Felipe Zurita Quintana.

Months after being named 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. made a heartbreaking choice—he walked away from the classroom.

I can’t stop thinking about his story. Willie spent more than a decade teaching high school English, giving everything he had to his students. But the same courage that made him a great teacher also made him a target.

Early in his career, an administrator told him flat-out: “Don’t talk about being gay. No one will protect you—including me.” For a while, a new administration gave him some breathing room. But eventually, that first warning came true. School officials looked the other way as LGBTQ+ students were harassed. They looked the other way when Willie himself was harassed.

He testified before Congress to shine a light on what’s happening in our schools, but by then the damage was done. He loved teaching—but no one should have to teach under threat just for being who they are.

Willie’s response? He didn’t go silent. Instead, he wrote Gay Poems for Red States—a book that’s part memoir, part love letter to Appalachia, and entirely full of hope. It’s not just poetry. It’s a reminder that even in hostile places, beauty and pride can take root.

Reading his story, I feel a mix of anger and admiration. Anger that we’re still here, fighting the same old battles. Admiration because Willie refuses to let hate define him—or his students. His words are a lifeline to every LGBTQ+ kid who’s searching for a home in a place that doesn’t always welcome them.

This isn’t just his story. It’s all of ours.

Check it out on Amazon

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