No ‘Gay’ Left Behind: Exploring Multiple Points of Exclusion and Possibilities for Change in the School Lives of LGBTQ Youth

Panel Title: No ‘Gay’ Left Behind: Exploring Multiple Points of Exclusion and Possibilities for Change in the School Lives of LGBTQ Youth, American Education Studies Association (AESA), Denver, CO: 2010

Abstract: For LGBTQ students, school can be a battleground where attempts to define themselves—through dating, academic work, or experimentation with self-expression—are regulated by cultural systems that stigmatize identities that transgress hegemonic gender norms.  The social scene, curriculum, extra curricular activities and policy all contribute to school climates where “successful” performance of masculinity and femininity are rewarded and non-conformity is punished through silencing and exclusion.  This panel aims to explore the complicated problem of creating more affirming environments for LGBTQ students by examining sites in which LGBTQ identities continue to be marginalized—sex education curriculum—as well as avenues for possible change—teacher training and policy reform.  Collectively, these papers address the need to expand the definition of the “problem” of unsupportive schools beyond issues of violence and discrimination and toward comprehensive understanding of the cultural systems that persistently marginalize LGBTQ youth.