Please allow me to join Liam Nolan and Shaun Dellenty in reassuring gay colleagues that it is possible to work as an openly gay teacher without fear of backlash (“The last bastion of prejudice”, 13 April). When I came out to my pupils in a mixed comprehensive in rural Kent, I received an overwhelmingly positive response. This encouraged me to be open about my relationship with my partner at a recent interview at another school where I am to be welcomed into my new post this term, which is also my first TLR position. While I don’t think that we gay teachers should be defined by our sexuality, I feel it is only fair that we feel comfortable talking about our personal relationships in the same way as our heterosexual colleagues. Nolan, Dellenty and Elly Barnes are therefore to be applauded for their work in “lifting the veil” on prejudice and homophobia in schools, and providing pupils with more positive role models.

Bob McKay, Teacher of MFL, Folkestone School for Girls.