“Why Can’t We Learn About This?” Sexual Minority Students Navigate the Official and Hidden Curricular Spaces of High School

Abstract

In the spaces of high school, sexual minority youth often find that their needs for inclusion are not met by their institutions and those employed within. Through interviews with sexual minority high school students and written questionnaires with high school teachers and other faculty, we find that sexual minority youth are faced with exclusion on a number of curricular levels. Here, we expand the notion of the “official” curriculum to include not only academic curriculums (classrooms), but also campus curriculums (groups) and social curriculums (relationships). Through examining each of these school spaces, we find that the “hidden” heteronormative curriculum directly and adversely affects sexual minority youth on a number of personal and educational levels. Suggestions are provided for changes and additions to high school policies and procedures in order to better serve sexual minority high school populations.