Gender and sexuality norms, conscribed under heteropatriarchy--a history we never made--have colonized and established unstable social and educational climates for the "millennial" generation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex, agender/ asexual, gender creative, and questioning youth (LGBT*IAGCQ[superscript M])(Miller). While…

This article presents a glossary of LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transsexual). This glossary is based on definitions culled from a few different sources, including the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance; and Wikipedia, which provides useful up-to-date information that people use when they…

In 1974, Ohio repealed its sodomy laws; Massachusetts Representative Elaine Noble became the first openly gay individual elected to a state legislature; and the National Gay Task Force collaborated with US Representatives Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Edward Koch (D-NY) to introduce the Equality Act of 1974 to ban discrimination against lesbians, gay…

Reading through her files, the author takes a journey back in time to 1991 when a few lesbians and gay men met in a conference room at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in Seattle to discuss issues relating to their lives and their teaching. It was at this meeting that NCTE first discussed forming a new group…

In this article, the author highlights outstanding literature written for young adults that contains LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) themes, or contains LGBTQ characters. One of the most critically hailed books with LGBTQ characters from 2007 was Perry Moore's debut novel, "Hero" (Hyperion). This book won the Lambda…

On April 25, 2008, students on college and public school campuses collectively committed to a vow of silence commemorating an event known as the National Day of Silence. This student-generated, nationwide action theatrically "speaks out" in solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people who for one reason or another fear…

In this article, the author describes how he uses performance pedagogy to open students' minds to sexuality and gender issues. The author uses Tony Kushner's "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes"--an epic play about the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the gay community in the 1980s. Through the possibilities of drama available in…

Turkey, like many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, is homosocial. Profoundly intimate, though nonsexual, relationships between members of the same gender predominate. In such cultures it is expected that male friends kiss one another on the cheek when greeting or saying goodbye, and it is common to see men walk arm-in-arm together, hold…

The young adult novels of Alex Sanchez belong in every high school English classroom and media center. With compelling plots and significant themes, Sanchez's six novels create numerous rich learning opportunities for students. In this article, the author describes how Sanchez's novels on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes can be…

In an effort to better understand the potential of process drama to overcome the reluctance of students to engage with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters, the author created a workshop that directly addresses the outcast mentality and the marginalization of LGBT youth in schools. Here, the author investigates the underlying…

While LGBTQ people may no longer need be considered the "invisible minority," LGBTQ books are often taken to be positive or affirmative based on their mere inclusion of gay people as characters. The authors believe the catalog of LGBTQ texts must continue to increase in both quantity and quality and that teachers must explicitly engage students in…

Teachers certainly appreciate the importance of an inviting classroom environment. The money spent on posters, the greeting at the classroom door, and the time invested in learning students' names all help to create a sense of community, and students who feel they belong are more likely to do their best work. No teacher would deliberately exclude…

The policies of the National Council of Teachers of English have always supported fair and democratic schooling in a diverse society. The 1999 NCTE Resolution on Diversity calls on the Council to "affirm, seek, and encourage all teachers to include a diversity of perspectives, cultures, aesthetic responses, and experiences in the teaching and…

Drawing on published scholarship and her own high school teaching, the author describes how works by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman can be used to integrate GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) issues into English classes. The author can't imagine a single high school that doesn't include Whitman and Dickinson at some point in its…

This article explores the ways that students in a humanities class talked about, researched, and disrupted homophobia at Jones School, a public combined middle school and high school in a small New England town. It includes strategies that move beyond discussions of right and wrong to a place of critical inquiry and support for the human rights of…