Queering the environment and caring for the self: Icelandic LGBT students’ experience of the upper secondary school

Abstract

Heteronormative culture and heterosexism is experienced by many LGBT students and queer individuals in their daily interactions with their environment. Icelandic upper secondary schools are no exception in this respect. This article draws on interview data with five LGBT students supported by semi-participatory observations at two upper secondary schools. The main objective is to describe various modes LGBT students use when caring for the self. We depict LGBT students as active subjects who resist their heteronormative environment and its heterosexist discourse by caring for their selves. We are especially inspired by Foucault’s later works on the ethics of being, where he draws attention to the possibility of resistance and transgression as ethical work. The five participants we interviewed attended various upper secondary schools and had different backgrounds. Their life histories reflected diversity in regard to gender, sexual preference and transgression practices. The young people were all aware of how their environment subjectified and constructed them through discourse. Both similarities and differences were noted in their ethical work.