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…

Until now there has been a systemic failure within social work education to address the unique experiences and concerns of LGBTQ individuals and communities. "Queering Social Work Education", the first book of its kind in North America, responds to the need for theoretically informed, inclusive, and sensitive approaches in social work…

This article is written in response to the work of Damien Riggs, providing a critical reading of his analysis of the inherent homophobia and gender normativity present in a selection of sexuality education websites targeted at children. Taking up the productive possibilities of both silences and narrative disruptions, the author examines a moment…

Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman's "Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation" is a collection of narratives written by individuals with a wide range of gender identities and expressions from around the world. The text shows how gender-nonconforming people are changing how society looks at gender. As many of the individuals who are challenging gender…

In this paper, I discuss [transgender] young men's social, physical and embodied experiences of sport. These discussions draw from interview research with two young people who prefer to self-identify as "male" and not as "trans men", although they do make use of this term. Finn and Ed volunteered to take part in the research…

In this article, I explore one lesbian teacher's ethical dilemmas and resulting disappointment related to the lack of participation by queer students in the Gay Straight Alliance she helped to create. Her dilemmas hinge on the paradoxical subject position of queer teacher in tension with the "coming out imperative" and intersecting…

Heteronormative culture and heterosexism is experienced by many LGBT students and queer individuals in their daily interactions with their environment. Icelandic upper secondary schools are no exception in this respect. This article draws on interview data with five LGBT students supported by semi-participatory observations at two upper secondary…

Schools are often hostile and unwelcoming spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer/questioning (LGBTQ), and gender-nonconforming students, teachers, and parents. This qualitative study sought to address that problem by examining the role that teacher education can play in preparing teacher candidates to transform those spaces. The…

Boys who sing in school are often marginalized, taunted, sometimes called "gay." What if "singer" is someone's whole identity, and that person also happens to be gay? This autoethnography (Ellis, 2004) is a story of the education and development of such a singer and how, within this context, a voice teacher with an empowering…

This article is based on the findings from a subset of gender identity and sexual orientation questions from The Casey Field Office Mental Health Study (CFOMH). It aims to contribute the experiences of youth in the care of Casey Family Programs to the increasing body of research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth…

The shift in attention to the "boy crisis" has been fuelled by a spate of popular trade books dealing with raising of boys and the alleged failures and deceptions of feminist educational reforms. This article argues that from a black feminist perspective the "boy crisis" depicted in these texts is a misnomer because no social…

This article describes what followed after a mother wondered if the school in her neighborhood was the right elementary school for her gender nonconforming young child. It includes collective and individual narratives from four key players: the mom and teacher educator (Slesaransky-Poe), the school's guidance counselor (Ruzzi), the principal…

This manuscript takes as its centerpiece fragments of the author's personal story of growing up as a closeted lesbian in school, in the Fortune 500, and in the community and of a number of years attempting to integrate her lesbian identity into her professional persona--outside of the closet. This manuscript makes an attempt at a "duality search"…

Contextualized through the lens of place, this essay explores intersections and tensions among queer theory, teacher education, and identities/identifications, which looks to the author like a particular way of looking at curriculum, pedagogy, and the self. Since the three general concepts are intertwined and irreducible, the author's particular…

For youth who challenge the culturally fixed gender dichotomy through nonconventional gender expression, societal reaction can be harsh. Uncovering these youth voices as they pioneer new gender frontiers through pathways of language and social dialogue provides the focus for this manuscript. Drawing from discursive, narrative practices, we sat in…