Is your school community confusing “nice” with “kind” and leaving LGBTQ+ students unsupported in the process?

As a new school year begins, many of us want to build more inclusive classrooms and communities, but surface-level politeness won’t get us there. This episode challenges parents, educators, and allies to embrace kindness as a courageous, everyday act that builds true safety and connection.

• Learn the key difference between being “nice” and practicing real kindness in school settings
• Get ready-to-use scripts for handling misgendering, exclusion, and passive comments with compassion and clarity
• Discover simple ways to raise children who lead with empathy and protect their peers with quiet courage

Press play to learn how kindness can become a bold tool for change—and how you can model and teach it this school year.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Resource: Welcoming Schools – Back-to-School Kindness Resources

Why it matters: This toolkit includes class posters, conversation starters, book lists, and sample lessons to help schools and families build inclusive environments from day one.

Other resources to explore:

• Teaching Tolerance (Learning for Justice) – Culturally responsive lesson plans and conversation starters
• Kindness.org – Research-backed kindness practices for schools and communities
• StoryCorps’ “Listen Closely” LGBTQ Archive – Stories that inspire empathy, connection, and action

Hi, I’m Heather Hester, and I’m so glad you’re here!

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At the heart of my work is a deep commitment to compassion, authenticity, and transformative allyship, especially for those navigating the complexities of parenting LGBTQ+ kids. Through this podcast, speaking, my writing, and the spaces I create, I help people unlearn bias, embrace their full humanity, and foster courageous, compassionate connection.

If you’re in the thick of parenting, allyship, or pioneering a way to lead with love and kindness, I’m here with true, messy, and heart-warming stories, real tools, and grounding support to help you move from fear to fierce, informed action.

Whether you’re listening in, working with me directly, or quietly taking it all in—I see you. And I’m so glad you’re part of this journey.

More Human. More Kind. formerly Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen is a safe and supportive space where a mom and mental health advocate offers guidance on parenting with empathy, inclusion, love, and open-minded allyship, fostering growth, healing, connection, and empowerment within the LGBTQ community while addressing grief, boundaries, education, diversity, human rights, social justice, and the power of human kindness through a lens of ally support and community engagement.

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