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#Walz has a long history of supporting #LGBTQIA+ rights. While teaching at #Mankato West High School in the 90s, he helped found its first #GayStraightAlliance group.
"You have an older, #White, #straight, #married, male #football coach who's deeply concerned that these students are treated fairly & that there is no #bullying," Walz said in a 2018 campaign ad.
It’s not every day a former #PublicSchool #teacher ends up on a presidential ticket. But for the students & teachers who crossed paths w/ #TimWalz during his decade teaching in #Mankato — a midsize city south of #Minneapolis — it’s easy to look back now & see the signs that he could find himself in exactly that position.
#VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024 #Harris2024
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2024/08/02/tim-walz-kamala-harris/
Could Tim Walz go from teaching history to being part of it?
Former classmates and colleagues talk about the teacher and coach who went into politics and is now believed to be on Kamala Harris’s short list for a running mate.Ben Terris (The Washington Post)
#Walz arrived in #Minnesota in 1996, from his home state of #Nebraska, along w/his wife, Gwen, who got a job #teaching English at the same school. At #Mankato West, Mrs & Mr Walz were seen as powerhouse #teachers who balanced out each other’s energy-levels: she was more reserved, & he was a boisterous ball of energy.
…Walz quickly earned the reputation as a guy who could get the most out of people.
In the mid-’90s, it was #Walz who offered to be the first faculty adviser to the newly formed #gay-straight alliance.
“The fact that he took on that role while also being the #FootballCoach was so important,” says Jacob Reitan, who was the first openly gay student at #Mankato West. “He set an example not just for #LGTBQ students but for football players in the locker room at a time where gay people were not well understood. He made the school a #safe place for everybody.”
he’s also a fmr US #Army noncommissioned officer who can pull off a camo hat at a news conference. & he’s the #teacher given the “Most #Inspiring” superlative in the #Mankato yearbook, who can effectively deliver an attack on #Republican opponents.
“When he said #Republicans were ‘#weird’ it struck me like, this works from Walz,” says Jake Jagdfeld, who played linebacker under Walz in the ’90s. “In politics he’s good at calling out BS w/o getting nasty or too down in the dirt.
