This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of educators handling the Gender and Society course in a selected higher education institution in Tacloban City, Leyte, focusing on their classroom experiences, responses to student disclosures, and the ways these experiences shape their professional identity and teaching pedagogies. Anchored on Bell Hooks’ Engaged Pedagogy and Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, the study employed a transcendental phenomenological design involving semi-structured interviews with college educators and analyzed using Moustakas’ thematic procedure. Findings for the lived experiences of educators revealed two major themes: Navigating the Classroom Atmosphere and Negotiating Religious Conviction and Lived Realities in Gender Discourse, highlighting classroom tension, hesitation, and the intersection of belief systems and lived experiences in gender discussions. For educators’ responses to gender-related student disclosures, four themes emerged: Active Empathy and Emotional Validation, Strategic Referral and Ethical Boundaries, De-personalizing Dialogue through Structured Neutrality, and Bridging the Gap Between Training and Experience, reflecting educators’ ethical decision-making, and reliance on experiential learning. Meanwhile, educators’ professional identity and pedagogical development were shaped by the themes As a Facilitator of Social Change and Cultivating Gender-Responsive Pedagogy, indicating a shift toward inclusive, reflexive, and transformative teaching practices. The study concludes that teaching Gender and Society is not merely instructional work but a transformative experience that reshapes educators’ pedagogical approaches, emotional engagement, and professional identities within a culturally and socially complex higher education context.