Using queer theories of sexuality and gender, this study centers on "coming out" stories of ten queer adults. Engaging Butler's heterosexual matrix (1990) as an analytic tool, stories are analyzed with respect to agency and positioning. Findings suggest that participants' positioning and agency were largely affected by gender identity…

Middle- and high school-based programs that affirm diverse sexual orientations and gender identities are related to lower rates of bullying and better mental health for LGBTQ students, yet little is known about how to implement affirming programs for elementary-aged children. This study is among the first to examine how an arts-based curriculum…

Within the small research literature on transgender college students, little work has focused on nonbinary trans students. Findings from focus groups with seven nonbinary trans students revealed that participants explored and found support for their nonbinary trans identities online and offline, valuing in particular the support of other nonbinary…

Sexual and gender minorities have long quibbled over whether the "LGBT" moniker (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) is inclusive enough. While we celebrate the proliferation of sexual and gender identities, we also believe that this ever-expanding moniker has become an alibi for disavowing institutional violence--particularly in higher…

The first nonpathologizing book for parents on trans and gender-nonconforming young people, Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper's "The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals", urges unconditional love and acceptance of both trans youth and gender-nonconforming children. The authors encourage parents not only to support their…

Traditional on-campus housing assignments at colleges and universities are made on the basis of legal sex, where students are housed only with other students of the same legal sex. This method is problematic for transgender and gender-nonconforming students, who may not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Recently, some…

Critically analyzing films allows for the interrogation of how such binaries as normal/abnormal, good/bad, and moral/immoral are culturally (re)inscribed, who sets the boundaries of what is deemed socially legible, and who gets to decide where these boundaries are set. This article utilizes critical discourse analysis to explore the transgender…

This article reviews Diane Ehrensaft's "Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children", a thoughtful and practical guide that can help parents, other family members, and therapists better understand and support children and youth whom the author refers to as "gender creative." Ehrensaft's work is at the forefront of a…

Examining the first phase of a three-year study of adolescent boys engaged in preprofessional dance training, Doug Risner's "Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance: An Empirical Study of Male Identities in Western Theatrical Dance Training" broadly identifies the challenges facing male students pursuing dance education. His book…

Young people continue to endure school-yard bullying and harassment. In our era of advanced information and communication technologies, however, a new variation has emerged: we now live in the age of cyberbullying. The current study explores the frequency of cyberbullying and its impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT),…

This essay provides a review of a resource guide written by Kristopher Wells, Gayle Roberts, and Carol Allan (2012) titled "Supporting Transgender and Transsexual Students in K-12 Schools: A Guide for Educators". The guide is an invaluable resource for educators in schools and teacher education programs.

The transgender community encounters pervasive prejudice, discrimination, and violence, yet social science literature lacks research that focuses on reduction of antitransgender prejudice. This experimental study examined the effectiveness of three interventions aimed at decreasing negative attitudes toward transsexuals, correcting participants'…

This study shares the experiences and outcomes of teaching about gender diversity in an elementary school classroom. It outlines how an urban public school teacher included discussions of transgender and gender-nonconforming people within the curriculum and documents the ways in which her students responded to those lessons. By making discussions…

Briden Cole Schueren, a 21-year-old Columbus State University visual art student, was born female-bodied. His recent artworks have explored the transitions he is experiencing and confronts the transphobic and heteronormative violence experienced in a state that denies equal protection and human rights to LGBT youth. This profile of Briden Cole…

Despite the increasing social tolerance accorded nonheterosexual persons in many Western countries, queer youth suicide rates remain high. This opens the need to question not only how broad social conditions continue to make lives unlivable for many queer youth but whether queer community formations and representations that emerge within a…