This qualitative study explored how LGBTQ+ ally teachers understand their ally identity in the context of teaching high school social studies. Specifically, it examined how teachers enacted their ally identity in the informal and informal curriculum through the production of classroom spaces, classroom relationships, queer representation in the curriculum, current events, and engagement in other school spaces such as gender and sexuality alliances (GSAs). This study employed a basic qualitative method to explore and understand the ally identity through the lived experiences and perspectives of ten LGBTQ+ ally teachers in North Carolina and Colorado. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and instructional documents, including teacher-created lessons. The conceptual framework used for this study reflects a hermeneutic relationship between the teacher's identity as a civic educator and their identity as an LGBTQ+ ally. It draws from a critical review of literature on teacher civic identity, curriculum gatekeeping, queer youth civic identity, queer representation in social studies, and LGBTQ+ ally teacher identity. The study found that ally teachers presented a fragmented ally identity through three different stances: ally-work, anti-work, and neutral-work. Each stance represented a different response to homophobia and heteronormativity as well as different classroom experiences for queer and non-queer students. Anti-work primarily worked to protect queer youth by silencing and interrupting homophobia through the policing of non-queer youth. Ally-work empowered queer youth by creating opportunities for critical dialogue in the classroom that examined the systemic nature of homophobia. Neutral-work viewed queer youth as an essentialized at-risk youth and did not explicitly acknowledge homophobia as a cause of bullying. This study discusses a fragmented ally identity shaped by identity choreography and sociocultural discourse. It argues that antiracist teaching can offer a model of less fragmented identity and move the performance of identity from anti-work to ally-work. It also argues that a fragmented ally identity results in a fragmented formal social studies curriculum represented by a tokenized queer representation and normalized queer representation. Various multicultural education models including culturally relevant pedagogy and critical multicultural, as well as attending to intersectional identities of queer youth can move ally teachers from anti-work to ally-work in social studies. Finally, a fragmented identity hinders critical classroom dialogue around homophobia and heteronormativity. Democratic deliberation emerges as a promising discussion model to help ally teachers in performing ally-work with students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]