Gay gang- and crime-involved men's experiences with homophobic bullying and harassment in schools

Abstract

Homophobic language and harassment in American schools is pervasive. Although several studies suggest sexual minority youth engage in defensive violence to respond to homophobic bullying in schools, these encounters remain largely unexplored. Instead, extant literature focuses on these youths' likelihood of being bullied and the negative school or mental health outcomes associated with homophobic victimization. In this paper, I utilize in-depth interviews with 53 gay gang- and crime-involved men to present a descriptive portrait of their experiences with homophobic bullying and harassment in schools, and the ways they manage and respond to these events. This study moves beyond prior studies by detailing how, under what circumstances, and why gay youth may choose to ‘fight back’ against homophobic bullying. Specifically, fights were enacted to address disrespect and to build a reputation as someone who was not to be bullied; the goal of which was to curtail future harassment.