In this article, the author notes that diversity and America's schools have historically played a crucial part in the broader movement for civil rights. This often has him considering the ways one can celebrate their community's diversity and curate meaningful conversations about their multiple identities/affinities, especially as they…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the written reflections of aspiring principals in two principal-preparation courses where social justice is at the core of the content and which address sexual orientation as part of the responsibility of a social justice leader. Data Collection: Two instructors in a leadership-preparation program…

This paper presumes teachers play crucial roles in making more just societies and teacher educators must decide how they will participate in and/or shape a global dialog about LGB rights with pre-service teachers. This paper utilizes Fraser's theory of justice to consider curricular change. It examines the values and experiences pre-service…

This paper offers an examination of gay-straight alliance (GSA) members' engagement with sex education, sexual health, and prejudice and discrimination in Canadian public high schools. It explores how five students' (four straight and one gay-identifying) participation in GSAs served as a springboard for learning about and challenging stereotypes;…

The following paper argues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) educators must have the option to come out in a safe and welcoming environment and until this is possible, equity for LGBTQ students will not be achieved. First the author frames the issue from a human rights perspective, followed by a review of the global…

In the past 10 years, gender-variant (GV) children (children who do not conform to traditional gender norms) have received increased attention from scholars, mental health practitioners, and popular media. In schools, these students have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to violence and harassment, leading to myriad negative…

Escalating conflicts over issues involving sexual orientation in public schools often pit conservative Christians against proponents of gay rights--with school leaders caught in the crossfire. Some beleaguered school administrators attempt to put a lid on the controversy by censoring student expression on one side or the other. But that tactic…

LGBT educators enjoy more openness and acceptance than ever before. But their gains have been fragile and uneven. And many still feel it's safest to teach from the closet. In conversations with LGBT educators across the nation, it is clear that many still face bigotry and difficulty. But there are also many heartening stories of acceptance,…

Bullying toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youths is a pervasive problem in schools that has negative impacts on LGBTQ students' mental health and educational outcomes. School social workers need to understand the prevalence and dynamics of bullying toward LGBTQ students to respond appropriately to victims and…

Using an ecological model, the individual-, school-, and sociocultural-level characteristics that affect gay-straight alliance (GSA) advisors were examined in the current study. The formation of GSAs has been one way that schools have sought to improve the school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Limited information…

Forum Theatre (FT), a participatory improvised theatre form, raises consciousness, enables debate and critical reflection, and encourages a democratic form of knowledge production that engages the audience in their own learning and unlearning. I used FT as a platform to understand how 15- to 18-year-old learners, in a co-educational school in the…

Throughout the author's 10 years in the middle school classroom, Anne Frank remains one of the most powerful figures that her students take away from their eighth-grade year. At first glance, her students don't think they share much more than their age with the World War II heroine. They are from almost every part of the world "except" Europe;…

Despite seeming endless debate and public attention given to the issue for several decades, those committed to creating welcoming and engaging campus environments for all students recognize that there is considerably more work to be done, and ask "Why aren't we there yet, and when will we be done?" While our campuses have evolved from being…

This manuscript discusses from the joint perspectives of an undergraduate student and a faculty member the often invisible role that language can play in providing postsecondary learning experiences that can either include or exclude students on the basis of social identity. The authors discuss ignorance, uncertainty, and political correctness as…

This case study explores the challenges a school leader faced when her commitment to diversity was tested by a scheduling conflict. The school principal approved a Transgender Day of Remembrance but then realized that it was scheduled for the same night as the school's Open House to recruit prospective students. The case study provides an…