For some time, the word "diversity" has been used to convey to members of Western societies that they live in a social climate of openness and welcome. Diversity might refer to any number of social identities or categories, and often is twinned with the phrase social equity to signal its attachment to a progressive agenda. In this…

This grounded theory study explored the critical influences on college sexual minority males' meaning-making of their multiple identities. Twenty-six cisgender males attending colleges and universities within the United States and Canada were interviewed and provided journal responses to specific prompts. Four themes emerged, including:…

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…

The social landscape has changed regarding public knowledge, perception, and acceptance of "alternative" sexual lifestyles. In recent years, public and political discourse around issues of non-heterosexual orientations has shifted significantly. Despite many legal milestones, society has not realized complete inclusion of individuals…

Using a narrative autoethnographical approach, this article details the identity-related and social repercussions of my experiences as a former victim of social, verbal, and physical bullying in public Franco-Ontarian elementary (1986-1994) and high (1994-1999) schools. The highlighted experiences are more specifically correlated with social…

Even though gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have existed in society for centuries, from an historical perspective the gay civil rights timeline is fairly recent, with significant changes seen in the last decade in Canada. Internationally, Denmark recognized same-sex partnerships in 1989, but only from 2005 to 2010 did Spain, Canada,…

This paper presents findings from a national study on the beliefs and practices of K-12 educators regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues in schools. Over 3400 Canadian educators participated in the study, which took the form of a bilingual (English/French) online survey. Respondents answered questions about their…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth have the potential for considerable resilience. Positive media representations may mediate negative experiences and foster self-esteem, yet the relationship between resilience and both traditional offline and new online media remains underaddressed for this population. This…

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…

This paper examines topics of equity and access to post-secondary education through exploration of barriers and other dimensions that serve to identify underrepresented groups in BC post-secondary education. The key purpose of the research project is to assess the policies and practices at the BC Transfer System institutions for admitting…

This article addresses the complex academic and social adjustment issues of newcomer youth of refugee background at a high school in Newfoundland and Labrador, a province where the newcomer population is small but the percentage of refugees in relation to all newcomers is high. Data for this qualitative study include documents from educational…

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 review examines outcomes, tensions, and variables contained in eight Canadian legal cases, which are important because of their profound implications for current and future stakeholders of Catholic education. These cases prompt educators to re-examine the understanding of student rights, teacher rights, and the rights of the Catholic school…

In this article we share the impact of a training program (Positive Space I and Positive Space II) on pre-service teachers' understandings of and abilities to create safe spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queering/Questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies in our teacher-education program and in schools. Research has demonstrated…