"Unleashing the Unpopular": Talking About Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in Education

This new publication is a unique teacher education resource that strives to improve understanding of issues related to sexual orientation, gender diversity, and education, and how they affect students, teachers, schools, and the community.  Personal narratives offer insight into experiences of LGBT students and teachers in schools.  These narratives and essays are offered as an invitation to make room for the questions and discussion that will hopefully lead to more equitable communities.  The authors discuss barriers to successfully supporting LGBT students, teachers, and parents; and explore the reasons behind action or inaction, the effects of not having supportive policy around LGBT issues, and possible solutions to the concerns.  Educators share their successes and failures in their attempts to address gender diversity and sexual orientation in the classroom and/or school community.  They provide strategies for introducing, supporting, and engaging students in dialogue, advocacy, and arts-based activities

These are personal narratives that reflect the reality our students and teachers are facing everyday.  While the stories in this book may evoke feelings of discomfort and disagreement, it is important to realize that these feelings are common and this publication is intended to help readers develop the compassion and understanding needed to become an even better educator.

Warning:  occasional profanity.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• When Schools Aren't Safe: The Courts Set the Standard by Hilary Cook
• The Student Experience
• Introduction to "The Student Experience"
• My One-armed Barbie in a Window Box by Niki Dame
• "Shut Up!" Or Why I Ended Up in the Hall by Katerina Cook
• The Gay Disaster Thing by Carter Cook
• The Bouley-Picard Family by Madison, Jordan, and Jacky Bouley-Picard
• Pretty by Karleen Pendleton Jimenez
• The Letter by Barbara Brush
• At One Time, Fontana Was the Working-Class Eden by Cindy Cruz
• When Matt Became Jade: Working With a Youth Who Made a Gender Transition Change in High School by Dale R. Callender
• Locating Ourselves: To Be Out or Not To Be Out
• Introduction to "Locating Ourselves: To Be Out or Not To Be Out"
• Surviving the Elephant by janet romero-leiva
• The Misunderstanding by Lisa Ortiz
• "That's So Gay": A Narrative Vignette of One Lesbian's Experience in Alberta Catholic Schools by Tonya Callaghan
• On Late Nights: Living in My Queer Teacher Body by Karleen Pendleton Jimenez
• Don't Fence Me In by Celia Haig-Brown
• Coming Out as What by Didi Khayatt
• In the School, Classroom, and Curriculum 
• Introduction to "In the School, Classroom, and Curriculum"
• Homophobic Graffiti on the Portable Wall by John J. Guiney Yallop
• Fighting Homophobia in Toronto Schools by Tim McCaskell
• A Little Bit Too Close to Home: A Case Study of a Beginning Teacher's Struggle To Teach Critically by Andrew M.A. Allen
• Lessons for Elementary Teacher Educators: A Conversation With Gay and Lesbian Teachers by April Whatley Bedford
• Surviving the Pain and Widening the Circle: Celebrating Lesbian and Gay Pride Week in an Elementary Classroom by John J. Guiney Yallop
• Diverse Threads in Social Fabrics: Autobiography and Arts-Informed Educational Initiatives for Social Justice by Kristopher Wells
• Acting OUT: Using Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed Techniques To Teach About Homophobic Incidents in Catholic Schools by Tonya Callaghan
• The Silenced Family: Policies and Perspectives on the Inclusion of Children's Literature Depicting Gay/Lesbian Families in Public Elementary Classrooms by Theresa M. Bouley
• Resources for Embracing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Families in Our Classrooms by Kay Emfinger
• Author Biographies

Isabel Killoran and Karleen Pendleton Jimenez, Editors, 2007. 160 pp. ISBN 978-0-87173-171-5

No. 1071 $22.00 ($17.60 ACEI members)

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