This chapter explores collegians' sexual identity formation through the lenses of feminist theory, intersectionality, poststructuralism, and queer theory.

We used queer theory to encourage readers to think differently about previous theories about Black racial identity development. Queer theory facilitates new and deeper understandings of how Black people develop their racial identities, prompting more fluidity and nuance. Specifically, we present a queered model of Black racial identity development…

The experiences of international students along the lines of race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and nationality are virtually unknown. This study utilizes experience-centered narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of Black gay international students, and how they are racialized and sexualized in American higher education. Using a Queer…

Based on a 1-year interview-based case study of a preservice English teacher, this article considers the limitations of both intersectional literacies and reader-based responses to texts. In an effort to address students' problematic discussions of female sexuality, the participant implemented a queer pedagogy that emphasized alterity, or the…

In this critical narrative inquiry study, we explored the experience of gay cisgender men in college at the borderlands of social constructionism, critical race theory, and queer theory. Findings included 3 major themes: (a) the salience, tokenization, and centrality of being an "other" in a given space, (b) how performativity varied in…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Black gay and bisexual male college students experience oppression during their spiritual journeys and how they resist this oppression. Data collection included interviews, field observations, and photovoice. Data were analyzed using quare theory, an alternative to queer theory, which…

One place to start understanding how pre-service teachers learn about contemporary young adult (YA) literature, especially those works that feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) and gender identity themes and characters, is through an examination of the YA literature course--a course many pre-service teachers take as…

Teacher education programs play a significant role in shaping pre-service English teachers' pedagogy. The incorporation of texts with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, intersex, and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ+) perspectives in the curriculum is one mechanism for promoting inclusion as well as a means to address and combat homophobia…

College access and graduation results in significant life advantages, including higher lifetime incomes, better physical and mental health outcomes, and greater rates of civic engagement. Unfortunately, trans* youth have been systematically prevented from full participation in post-secondary education due to genderist practices and policies.…

What are the limits of queer pedagogy's thought [Britzman, D. (1995). Is there a queer pedagogy or stop reading straight. "Educational Theory," 45(2), 151-165]? This question is considered in relation to how queer pedagogy unfolds in a first-year university course entitled "Learning Sexualities." Examples of how queer pedagogy…

This study examines how students perform resistance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer topics in their written reflections in a higher education diversity course. Using a three-tiered critical discourse analysis , this article maps students' resistant textual devices in their written reflections, analyzes the institutional setting…

LGBTQ issues are often marginalized in teacher preparation programs. This marginalization perpetuates heternormative practices in schools. Utilizing the lens of narrative inquiry, this study examined the lives of 10 LGBTQ teachers residing in various geographical regions in the United States. Based on the theoretical framework of Queer Theory,…

Recent reports of bullying in postsecondary education show that there have been an increasing number of incidents of bullying. Although previous studies focused on bullying in general, the intersectionality of various types of bullying has not been extensively examined yet in postsecondary education. The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to…

Higher education educators commonly understand social identities, including gender, to be fluid and dynamic. Lev's (2004) model of four components of sexual identity is commonly used to demonstrate the fluidity of sex, gender, and sexuality for individuals, but it does little to address the fixedness of those constructs. Through a multipronged…

This article presents the results of a qualitative exploration of the performance of masculine gender identities in six gay male students enrolled at a master's comprehensive public institution in the Midwest. This article builds on the work of Laker and Davis (2011) and Rankin (2005). The findings indicate participants adapted their gender…