Classroom-based microaggressions are a critical problem, associated with a range of negative impacts for students in targeted groups. Central to the problem of microaggressions is that they are often unacknowledged or unaddressed by educators in their own classrooms. Findings from the Social Work Speaks Out! mixed-method survey demonstrate that…

Discrimination toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social work students can negatively affect academic performance and personal and professional identity development. Intersectionality is a conceptual approach that states that social identities interact to form different meanings and experiences from those that could be…

There are increasing calls for pre-service educators to be responsive and responsible for anti-homophobic education. This research builds on the ongoing efforts to integrate Positive Space training in our two-year Bachelor of Education programme. We found through a series of focus group and individual interviews that pre-service teachers were…

Oppression and marginalization of people who identify as LGBTQ+ persist on university campuses despite their right to be free of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code. In an attempt to highlight the real and detrimental impacts of normative heterosexual and cisgender ideologies on Ontarian students the Ontario Undergraduate Student…

To fight homophobia in schools in Québec, many teachers rely on community organizations such as the Groupe de Recherche et d'Intervention Sociale (Research and Social Intervention Group) to address sexual diversity in class. This article documents major outcomes of these workshops as seen by students. Students identified topics related to…

In this paper we explore our experiences working with queer and trans youth who have taken "non-traditional pathways out of high school. Drawing on Foucauldian theories of normalisation and Halberstam's queerings of time, success, and failure, we consider how certain aspects of schooling have shaped queer and trans youths' desire to seek out…

This paper derives from a larger study, looking at how students in one secondary school in Ontario problematised and understood gender expression. This study applies a Foucaultian analytic framework of disciplinary space to the problem of the bathroom in public schools. It focuses specifically on the surveillance and regulation of gendered bodies…

This paper offers an examination of gay-straight alliance (GSA) members' engagement with sex education, sexual health, and prejudice and discrimination in Canadian public high schools. It explores how five students' (four straight and one gay-identifying) participation in GSAs served as a springboard for learning about and challenging stereotypes;…

Few studies have examined social work students' reflections on and experiences working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning persons and addressing the intersection of race/ethnicity and sexuality within practice. This study explored current master's of social work student (n = 11) and recent graduate (n = 7) reflections on…

In Canada, there is a dearth of research on school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students. Using social networking, 60 students from high schools in Saskatchewan participated in a climate survey. Results indicated that anti-LGBQ speech was widespread, as were other forms of harassment. The more victimization that was…

Safe school policies in many urban schools in Ontario have featured security guards, electronic surveillance, student identification tags, discipline, and zero tolerance. In 2000, the Ontario Ministry of Education passed the Safe Schools Act, which set out a list of offences that could trigger expulsion, suspension, and other disciplinary…

Educators and the public alike are often perplexed with the enormous and evolving cyber mise en scene. Youth of the digital generation are interacting in ways our fore-mothers and fathers never imagined--using electronic communications that until 30 years ago never existed. This article reports on a study of cyber-bullying conducted with students…

The paper is a critique of discourse focused on at-risk behaviour and homophobic bullying. The paper argues that conversations around homophobic bullying must include discussions of doing equity and achieving social justice,in which the ultimate goal of constructing safe schools is achieved through the utter transformation of school culture.…

This study reports key findings from a research project, which examined the stress and coping mechanisms of several nondominant groups of individuals. The groups were based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and included (a) Aboriginal individuals with diabetes, (b) individuals with disabilities, and (c) gays and lesbians. Our analyses of personal…

Examined attitudes toward homosexuals among 199 male and female students at a Canadian university. Attitudes toward gay men were more negative than attitudes toward lesbians. For male students, attitudes toward gay men improved with time spent at college, suggesting the influence of college in reducing antihomosexual prejudice. (SLD)