Gay Teachers Research Articles

How do Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Teachers Experience UK Rural School Communities?

This article examines how lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers in rural schools negotiate their sexual identities within the workplace. Although there has been progress towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) inclusion for teachers in urban and suburban schools, this article shows that their rural counterparts often experience their school communities differently. A questionnaire gathered data from school teachers in the United Kingdom identifying as LGBT. Whilst a small number of transgender, gender queer and non-binary teachers completed the questionnaire, it is important to note that these teachers taught only in urban environments. In rural schools, respondents identified only as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). Therefore, LGB is used when referring to the rural respondents in this study and LGBT is used when referring generally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The experiences of teachers working in rural schools were compared with those working in urban or suburban school settings. Results showed that LGB teachers in rural communities lack the opportunity to speak their identity into existence at school, and often find their personal and professional identities incompatible, leading to low self-worth, depression and anxiety. The article shows that in rural school communities, traditional and conservative rural norms and values are compelling and are often protected at the expense of creating safe and inclusive workplaces for LGB teachers.

“Você é viado? Você gosta de homem?”: Professores/as homossexuais e o dispositivo de sexualidade na escola

Neste texto, são apresentadas narrativas produzidas durante uma pesquisa de mestrado a partir dos encontros com sete professores/as que se auto identificaram como homossexuais. Foi utilizado como referencial teórico-metodológico a perspectiva pós-estruturalista. Por meio dessa perspectiva puderam ser problematizadas as formas pelas quais os/as professores/as vão se constituindo enquanto docentes homossexuais e discutir como esses/as professores/as vão se produzindo nas relações de poder, nas relações com o outro e, sobretudo, como se relacionam com a instituição escolar. As narrativas obtidas apontam que assumir-se enquanto professor/a homossexual organiza a forma com que o sujeito se comporta dentro escola, vivenciando um contínuo processo de negociação com o outro e consigo mesmo. Além disso, esses/as professores/as vão corajosamente criando suas próprias existências e se distanciando do padrão heteronormativo de ser. Isso é significativo, pois eles e elas rompem com a heteronormatividade, colocam em suspensão as crenças e as lógicas binárias que estão ao nosso redor nos cerceando da experienciação de diferentes modos de vida.

Understanding Identity and Context in the Development of Gay Teacher Identity: Perceptions and Realities in Teacher Education and Teaching

The way a teacher perceives relational justice—the feeling of being treated equitably and being included—in their work context is central to understanding the negotiation and enactment of teacher identity. For LGBTQ teachers, the degree to which they are out of the closet with their students and colleagues leads to many possible outcomes. These outcomes, ranging from feeling like they need to live duplicitous lives to being activist teachers that subvert the heteronormative assumptions in schools and curricula, are studied here by examining the identity development of a group of gay teachers and their perceptions of the schools in which they work. This article is based on a dissertation study that theorized that the heteronormative nature of teacher education is a limiting factor for gay teachers’ abilities to work and thrive in school contexts. The study included in depth case studies of four gay teachers and their journeys as gay men and teachers. The goal of the study was to answer the question: Does the enactment of gay teacher identity interrupt heteronormativity in schools? The study also sought to answer two ancillary questions: (1) How do gay teachers negotiate gay teacher identity in schools? and, (2) How do school contexts impact gay teachers’ perceptions of identity-based motivation and relational justice? This article will focus on Peter Ryan’s (pseudonym) case study, specifically because of its emblematic nature in summarizing the intent and implications of the overall study.

Examining the Experiences of Lesbian Prospective Kindergarten Teachers

This study analyzes the experiences of homosexual prospective teachers, examining how homosexual prospective teachers form their identities as members of a sexual minority and as teachers. Homosexual youths have experienced a long and pervasive history of discrimination in Korea, where homophobia is firmly rooted. Although multiple types of victimization ranging from verbal teasing to sexual harassment and physical assault are frequently reported at the high school level, many scholars state that actual harassment and discrimination based on sexuality begin early in life. Young children learn that there are dominant societal expectations of the expression of gender and sexuality. Without teachers’ conscious efforts in the classroom, homophobic and heterosexist discursive practices become prevalent in their lives. This study analyzes the experiences of homosexual prospective teachers, examining how homosexual prospective teachers form their identity as members of a sexual minority and as teachers. For this research goal, I conducted narrative interviews with five homosexual prospective teachers. They majored in Early Childhood Education at college in Gyeonggi province. After collecting the interview data, I analyzed it based on ground theory. According to the research findings, participants experienced discrimination since the moment of awareness during which the homosexual individuals confirmed their feeling as homosexuality. They moved into the more matured identity development phases. At the same time, they also constructed their teacher identity. They showed the passion and enjoyment for teaching which are typically observed in the pre-teaching period. Due to the conservative atmosphere of Korean society, participants remained in the closeted teaching step and failed to reach the final step of the homosexual teacher identity development process. These research findings imply that it is necessary to define homosexual teachers as change agents, not as living a tabooed existence, who challenge heterosexual norms and homophobia, which starts as early as kindergarten.

Examining the practicum experiences of homosexual prospective teachers

Examining the practicum experiences of homosexual prospective teachers

"Our Silent Day": One White Gay Teacher Explores Teacher Agency and Counter-Socialization during the National Day of Silence.

"Our Silent Day": One White Gay Teacher Explores Teacher Agency and Counter-Socialization during the National Day of Silence.

Imperially White and Male. Colonial Masculinities in M. G. Vassanji’s The Book of Secrets (1994) and Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Desertion (2005)

The interconnection between empire and whiteness has been demonstrated in critical works such as Richard Dyer’s White (1997) and, more recently, Bill Schwarz’s The White Man’s World (2011). Considering Dyer’s observation that “race and gender are ineluctably intertwined” (30), this essay explores the interdependence of whiteness and maleness that stands at the core of empire’s rhetoric. Vassanji’s The Book of Secrets and Gurnah’s Desertion counteract the ideal imperial masculinity elicited by colonial literature by destabilizing the imperial dyad of whiteness and maleness. Following Dyer’s powerful assertion that “whiteness needs to be made strange” (1997, 10), I contend that in The Book of Secrets and Desertion, not only is whiteness made strange but so also is maleness. Sara Ahmed’s phenomenological approach to whiteness allows me to probe into the ambivalences and ambiguities of the colonial (white and male) body. This is a body forged within patriarchal discourse which, despite its normative and authoritative whiteness and maleness, is doomed to remain a body-out-of-place. Henceforth, it is empire’s own creation of the colonial body that ultimately dislocates it. Displacement, in its variegated manifestations, is what assails the three embodiments of whiteness that feature in Vassanji and Gurnah’s texts, namely, the soldier/estate manager, the administrator, and the orientalist. Nonetheless, it is the body of Gregory, the homosexual poet and teacher of English literature from The Book of Secrets, that is the recipient of the most acute ambivalences and contradictions of whiteness. Gregory’s body resists colonial embodiment. In his dismissal of whiteness and maleness, Gregory experiences the crudest manifestation of displacement, but this is precisely what permits him to negotiate a subjectivity beyond the phallocentric framework of imperialism.

Is Coming Out in the Classroom Still an Occupational Hazard? A Replication of Russ, Simonds, and Hunt (2002)

This project represents a replication of Russ, Simonds, and Hunt’s (2002) project that explored the influence of instructor sexual orientation disclosure on perceptions of teacher credibility and learning. Our purpose was to see if the original findings—that students perceive gay teachers as less credible and that they learn less than from a straight teacher—could be replicated in a sample of students from a different location and after more than 15 years from the original study. Employing a quasi-experimental methodology, we did not find the same result as they did: gay instructors were not rated lower in credibility and learning by the students in our sample. We provide some context and discussion around why this might be the case.

Challenging dominance in the education sector: Why is it important and how can I do it?

Dominance in any sector prevents minority voices from being heard. Challenging dominance can be vulnerable, especially if the challenger identifies as part of a minority group. Marginalisation and silencing of issues pertaining to the gay community have long been the accepted norm in the education sector (Lee & Duncan, 2008; Robinson 2002). Furthermore, being an openly gay person in a teaching environment has proven challenging, mainly due to the dominance and acceptance of the heterosexual construct (DeJean, 2010a; Jarvis & Sandretto, 2010; McKenzie-Bassant, 2007; Sumara, 2008). The experiences of four lesbian teachers located in urban Aotearoa New Zealand and how they challenged heteronormativity in their early childhood education (ECE) settings was the focus for this research. Heteronormativity was one barrier which prevented teachers speaking about lesbian and gay topics. As a result of this barrier, acceptance of lesbian and gay issues is still a contentious issue within Aotearoa New Zealand ECE settings. A feminist poststructuralist and queer theory paradigm was used to frame the analytical approach. Data was gathered using individual interviews and a focus group. Strategies that participants used to challenge heteronormative dominance were examined. Although the participants did disrupt and challenge the dominance of heteronormativity, this was not without challenges or discomfort. The findings indicate that a collective approach from all teachers to challenge heteronormativity would benefit both peers and children. This collective approach would enable lesbian and gay teachers to be better able to be authentically engaged teachers.

Le coming out des enseignants homosexuels. Intérêt et limites de l’approche goffmanienne

Les auteurs s’interessent au coming out des enseignants gays. S’appuyant sur Stigmate (Goffman, 1975), ils confrontent la theorie de l’auteur aux entretiens realises aupres de six professeurs de l’enseig­nement catholique francophone belge. Nuancant une vision dichotomique du coming out (rester dans le placard ou en sortir), les auteurs montrent comment la theorie goffmanienne permet de rendre compte de la variete des strategies d’interactions des enseignants gays avec leur entourage professionnel (ele­ves, collegues, direction). Pourtant, les resultats de la recherche mettent egalement en exergue des limi­tes de la theorie de Goffman. Le niveau microsociologique ne suffit pas a saisir valablement la com­plexite des interactions des enseignants gays. En effet, la situation d’interaction est influencee par des phenomenes macrosociaux et par la trajectoire biographique des interviewes.

Maintaining the school closet: the changing regulation of homosexuality and the contested space of the school in New South Wales, 1978–84

ABSTRACTIn New South Wales in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the work of lesbian and gay rights activists produced extraordinary changes in the State’s legal regulation of homosexuality. This paper examines the ways in which the space of the school was discursively constructed within two debates centred on these changes, both by gay and lesbian activists and by the State’s politicians. First, I examine the work of the Gay Teachers and Students Association (GAYTAS), which aimed to make schools safer spaces for gay and lesbian teachers and young people. Second, I explore parliamentary debates that eventually led to the decriminalisation of sex between gay male adults. In these debates, conservative politicians frequently claimed that the space of the school would be threatened by greater sexual liberty for homosexual people. I argue that, although legislative reform and changing attitudes to sexuality would ensure, through these years, that more lesbian and gay adults could lead openly homosexual lives, the space of the school was maintained as a form of closet. The needs of gay and lesbian students were ignored in the discursive construction of schools as spaces designed to lead young people towards heterosexuality.

Narrativas de vida e formação de professores gays: (auto)biográficas acerca do estranho que habita em mim

O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar, por meio de narrativas (auto)biográficas, as histórias de vida de professores homossexuais, na tentativa de compreender as nuances dos processos formativos implicados na história de vida e formação dos mesmos. Compreendemos assim, que as narrativas (auto)biográficas, enquanto perspectiva epistemológica se apresenta num instrumento rico de auto formação, uma vez que o ambiente escolar deve constituir-se em um espaço e em uma educação menos desigual, mais humanizadora e que potencialize as habilidades humanas. Conhecer aspectos do percurso da vida pessoal e profissional construído pelos professores foi uma experiência singular. A narrativa se apresentou numa outra experiência e isso contribuiu significativamente para que realizássemos reflexões ricas e produtivas acerca da formação e das suas trajetórias de vida.

Big Bob, Little Bob by J. Howe

Howe, James. Big Bob, Little Bob, illustrated by Lauren Ellen Anderson. Candlewick Press, 2016.Who needs binaries when we can have diversity? That’s what Bob, Bob, and Blossom might ask in Big Bob, Little Bob written by James Howe and illustrated by Lauren Ellen Anderson. This children’s picture book asks readers to question their perception of what is masculine, what is feminine, and more importantly, why we persist in imposing gender roles on children and in society. Some boys like cats, some boys like dogs, and some boys like to wear dresses. Do not make the mistake of placing stereotypes on the characters in this story! This book tackles the subject of gender roles and gender identity in a captivating, entertaining, and non-intrusive manner. Gender bending non-conforming individuals, and those who prefer to live in a gender-neutral world, will love this story. For those continuing to live in a binary-driven, gender-rigid reality this story will ask the reader to question why categorize gender, encourage embracing fluidity, and to start viewing life on a spectrum.Clean, clear fonts and simple, easy language, appropriate for all ages, permit readers the freedom to be expressive while flipping through the pages of this book. Beautifully drawn and coloured illustrations wonderfully complement the text. The illustrator makes smart colour choices and the art is stylized with thoughtfully detailed layers of images that provide deeper inferences for the viewer. Characters’ facial expressions provide insights into their thoughts, feeling, and emotions. Readers are provided the opportunity to analyse the illustrations that add clarity and detail to the author’s key message. In this book there is more than meets the eye and young readers will enjoy making connections between word and image while exploring various themes including friendship, acceptance, and inclusion - to name a few.Recommendation: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Craig MichaudCraig Michaud, B.Ed., M.Ed, is a graduate of the Masters of Education Studies Program at the University of Alberta, and an elementary school teacher for Edmonton Public School Board. His graduate research focused on the perspectives of gay teachers in Alberta, Canada. Contact: cmichaud@ualberta.ca

Lesbian and gay teachers and sex/uality education policy enactment in schools

ABSTRACTThis paper examines lesbian and gay teachers’ identities and experiences in schools in the context of school policies relating to homophobia and to sex and sexuality education. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 lesbian and gay teachers working in English and Welsh schools, and using the concept of ‘policy enactment’, I analyse the ways in which school policies around homo/bi/transphobic bullying and sex/uality education and their enactment are perceived by lesbian and gay teachers. The article examines teachers’ personal experiences in relation to sexuality in school, and then broadens out into related issues for pupils and a discussion of the varied approaches to sex and relationships education in the schools. I argue that the enactment of these policies is not straightforward, and that they could be better supported by a more inclusive and comprehensive sexuality education curriculum.

Two good gay teachers: pioneering advocate-practitioners confronting homophobia in schooling in British Columbia, Canada

This article investigates the political, cultural, and educational work of two pioneering Canadian gay teachers during the 1990s: James Chamberlain and Murray Corren. These advocate-practitioners took up roles as social activists, cultural workers, and engaged teachers whose transgressive acts focused on the social and cultural transformation of schooling. The article begins with a discussion of the importance and process of conducting this research. It then presents findings as two found narratives constructed from the interviews, with the narratives constituting self-reflective, institutional, and cultural analyses in their own words. Next, the article speaks to the importance of putting the emphasis on being gay, which aligns with individual protection against discrimination as guaranteed by Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The article concludes with a reflection on the contemporary situation for sexual and gender minority teachers in Canada as it takes up the question: Is the present different?

Antigay Bias in Role-Model Occupations by E. Gary Spitko

Reviewed by: Antigay Bias in Role-Model Occupations by E. Gary Spitko Sandra F. Sperino (bio) E. Gary Spitko, Antigay Bias in Role-Model Occupations (University of Pennsylvania Press 2017), ISBN 978-08-12248-70-8, 272pages. In Antigay Bias in Role Model Occupations, Professor E. Gary Spitko discusses how employers regularly exclude people from role model occupations based on their sexual orientation and why such exclusion matters. The book’s central theme is “that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation with particular respect to role-model occupations has served as a means to exclude gay people from the public social spaces that identify and teach whom our society respects and whom members of society should seek to emulate.”1 This book comes at an important time and makes a real contribution to the existing literature on anti-discrimination law. In the United States, Title VII is the federal law that prohibits discrimination because of sex. There is currently a circuit split about whether Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation. In Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana,2 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses sexual orientation discrimination. However, several other circuit courts have held that Title VII does not prohibit sexual orientation discrimination.3 While there is a rich literature about why federal law should prohibit employment discrimination, Professor Spitko provides another compelling reason. His book demonstrates how employers have long excluded gay people from being lawyers, from serving in the military, from being teachers, and from playing professional sports once their sexual orientation became known. Professor Spitko convincingly argues that excluding people from these role model occupations has a host of consequences, including making it difficult for gay people to see themselves in role model occupations [End Page 986] and robbing them of the opportunities to publicly demonstrate the qualities that people often associate with role models. As Professor Spitko notes: For the contemporary gay aspiring lawyer, politician, or athlete, therefore, a ‘lavender ceiling’ caps expectations. It is impossible to know and difficult even to imagine what the other side of that lavender ceiling looks like. For the straight person as well, the lack of such gay pioneering role models hems in the concept of what it means to be gay.4 Many of the examples Professor Spitko examines are cases in which federal, state, and local governments prohibited individuals from serving in role model occupations because of their sexual orientation. The book tells the story of a woman who was fired from a job as a state lawyer because she married another woman. It details how the military excluded people from serving. It also discusses how local governments discriminated against gay teachers. Thus, the book shows how the government played a significant role in denying opportunity and also in creating the social norms about what kinds of people belong in certain jobs of authority. The government’s critical role in creating a climate of exclusion, calls for a special response from it to remedy its past role. As Spitko notes, “Gay people . . . have long been targeted for employment discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or sexual behavior. In the United States, the federal government was for many years the most prominent perpetrator of this discrimination.”5 Federal and local governments also maintained for decades that gay people were not fit for these role model occupations and made many arguments to support this claim. These arguments were enshrined in court cases and other government records. Spitko notes that while many people are aware of the “Red Scare” and the federal government’s efforts to exclude Communists from employment, they know very little about the “Lavender Scare.” Quoting from the book, “By the 1960s, the federal government had fired thousands of employees because of their alleged homosexuality and had denied employment to thousands more applicants on the same grounds.”6 A 1953 federal executive order that expressly listed sexual perversion as a basis for denying federal employment blocked employment in the private sector for openly gay individuals who needed a federal security clearance. Professor Spitko also critiques...

The issue "closet" and the emergence of the internet in the narratives of gay teachers

Neste texto, trago narrativas produzidas sobre a questao do “armario” e a emergencia da internet durante a minha pesquisa de mestrado, baseada em encontros com sete professores que se identificaram como homossexuais. Utilizei como referencial teorico-metodologico a perspectiva pos-estruturalista. Com base nessa perspectiva pude problematizar as formas pelas quais os professores vao se constituindo como sujeitos homossexuais e discutir como esses docentes vao se produzindo nas relacoes de poder, nas relacoes com o outro e, sobretudo, na relacao consigo mesmo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Armario. Professores. Homossexualidades. Internet.

“They Think I Am a Pervert:” A Qualitative Analysis of Lesbian and Gay Teachers' Experiences With Stress at School

Qualitative methodologies were used to identify the demands and resources lesbian and gay (LG) teachers face in their schools. Data sources included 2 interviews each with 11 teachers who each identified as lesbian or gay. Analyses of interview data indicated 3 main findings. First, although all teachers experienced demands because of their sexual orientation, the nature of the demands were different depending on their level of openness. Second, social support from others (e.g., colleagues, administrators, and partners) emerged as a particularly important coping resource for LG teachers. Third, by identifying specific demands unique to participants' roles as teachers, the results suggested the importance of work context in understanding LG teacher stress. Implications for teacher educators and LG teachers are discussed.

“Sou gay, sou alegre, mas não sou bagunça!”: docência, homossexualidade e estética da existência

Este texto traz narrativas produzidas a partir de entrevistas narrativas com um professor homossexual durante uma pesquisa de mestrado. A questão analisada na pesquisa parte da seguinte inquietação: “Quais as narrativas, experiências e de que modos se constituem @s professor@s homossexuais?”. Foi utilizado como referencial teórico-metodológico a perspectiva pós-estruturalista. A partir dessa perspectiva puderam ser problematizadas as formas pelas quais o professor pesquisado vai se constituindo enquanto docente homossexual e discutir como esse professor vai se produzindo nas relações de poder, nas relações com o outro e, sobretudo, como se relaciona com a instituição escolar. Assumir-se enquanto professor homossexual organiza a forma com que o sujeito se comporta dentro escola, vivenciando um contínuo processo de negociação com o outro e consigo mesmo.

Every gay teacher should read this

If you are a teacher who is gay, failing to tackle an incident in which a student targets your sexuality is the worst thing possible to do. The story that follows is one that every gay teacher should read