This paper reports on a qualitative narrative study that captures the experiences of LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender] school leaders along the U.S.-Mexican border in relation towards their journey in becoming a school leader and their occurrences within their practice. I analyze this issue through a queer theory framework and through…

This study examined how lesbian and gay student affairs professionals negotiate their sexual identity within the institutional culture and professional responsibilities at small colleges and universities (SCUs). Nineteen individuals participated in semistructured interviews. Using the concept of theoretical bricolage (Kincheloe, 2005; Kincheloe,…

Principals should lead for social justice, particularly in support of marginalized and vulnerable students like lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) adolescents. This quantitative survey-based study collected data from 116 middle grade principals in Indiana to examine the implementation of antibullying policies and best…

The research reported in this paper sought to determine the level of awareness among school principals in primary schools in Ireland where homophobic bullying is concerned. International research has previously shown that school leaders as animators of school climate are often lacking in their responses to this type of bullying [Walton, G. 2004.…

Background: Researchers have tended to favor scholarship that looks at institutional forms of support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students in the context of resource centers specifically tailored to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students. Our study makes two distinct contributions to the study of gay and lesbian students…

Through in-depth interviews with 21 parents and 12 children in lesbian/gay-parented families, we explored the experiences of this unique family form in South African schools. Specifically, families reflected on their positive and negative experiences in the children's education and used these reflections to offer advice to teachers and…

This case study details how one leader worked to support a fifth-grade student's gender transition midway through a school year. Despite a conservative political environment, push-back from families and community members, and district controversy surrounding adoption of a Transgender Inclusion policy, the principal worked closely with the student,…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide insight to the multiple ways that school leaders resist, avoid, or block LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer, and questioning) professional development for their staff and, thus, resist the conversations around school responsibility to these students and families. Research…

The U.S. secondary school environment often is hostile and exclusionary toward LGBTQ students. Queer theoretical perspectives have served as the conceptual foundation for a phenomenographic study exploring seven high school administrators' perceptions of their experiences with Gay-Straight Alliances. The study results support prior research that…

Over an 8-year span, two survey studies were conducted to analyze LGBT -teachers' perceptions of their school climate and the impact of school leaders on that climate. This article presents nonparametric, descriptive, and qualitative results of the National Survey of Educators' Perceptions of School Climate 2011 compared with survey results from…

This qualitative study examines the processes of forming gay-straight alliances at three religiously affiliated institutions of higher education. Using the lens of Social Movement Theory (SMT), this paper presents the methods and approaches used when advocates of gay-straight alliances at these institutions encountered resistance from…

This case study focuses on issues of freedom of speech and freedom of religion in public schools. It involves a rural, southern high school where a group of students participated in a Day of Silence. The school allowed the students to participate based on the principal's understanding of the students' First Amendment rights. However, the next day,…

Interpretive methodology is used to study the experiences of gay and lesbian K-12 Caucasian educators in California who consider themselves "out" within the classrooms in which they teach. Three main research questions framed this study: What are the lived experiences of out gay and lesbian K-12 educators? What are the interconnections…

This case study details the events surrounding a gay student's "coming out" in a small, rural high school. Through the eyes and experiences of the student, his teachers, classmates, and community, we hear the story of how the school and community dealt with an issue they had never before actively considered. Through qualitative interviews, the…