Moral Reasoning and Homosexuality: The acceptability of arguments about lesbian and gay issues

In the political arena, lesbian and gay issues have been contested typically on grounds of human rights, but with variable success. Using a moral developmental framework, the purpose of this study was to explore preferences for different types of moral arguments when thinking about moral dilemmas around lesbian and gay issues. The analysis presented here comprised data collected from 545 students at UK universities who completed a questionnaire, part of which comprised a moral dilemma task. Findings of the study showed that respondents do not apply moral reasoning consistently, and do not (clearly) favour human rights reasoning when thinking about lesbian and gay issues. Respondents tended to favour reasoning supporting existing social structures and frameworks, therefore this study highlights the importance of structural change in effecting widespread attitude change in relation to lesbian and gay rights issues. The implications of the findings for moral education are also discussed.     

Sexuality education including lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) issues in schools

Should children and adolescents be educated in school about gender diversity, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues? This is a question many governments and educational policymakers discuss in their process of reforming relationships and sex education. However, these reform plans face resistance from parents, religious groups, and political parties. Specifically, opponents argue that (a) children who learn about LGBT issues in school will engage in same-sex practices or even become homosexual, bisexual, or trans* themselves; (b) schools force a particular view on children that stands in contrast to the heteronormative, religious, and/or political views of parents; and (c) teachers act as role models and change the sexual orientation and gender identity of their students. This systematic literature review aims to offer evidenced-based answers to these arguments on the grounds of biological, sociological, psychological, and educational research. First, twin studies and genome scans in behavioral genetics research unveil strong biological roots of sexual orientation and identity that will not change through inclusive sexuality education. Second, psychological and sociological research signals that heteronormativity, homosexuality non-acceptance, and negative attitudes toward LGBT people in general are associated with lower levels of education and intelligence as well as higher levels of religious belief and political conservatism. For at-risk sexual minority students who show gender nonconforming and gender atypical behavior, schools can create a safe climate and protect adolescent health if they succeed in reducing homophobic and transphobic discrimination, bullying, peer victimization, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. Third, action research and ethnographic narratives in educational research tend to indicate that queer educators as role models in classrooms do not change the sexual orientation and gender identity of their pupils. In summary, based on this systematic review, governments and policy makers can expect that reforming the teaching of sex education to include LGBT issues in schools will have positive effects for heterosexual students and for students belonging to a sexual minority.     

Educationally Queer: Teaching lesbian and gay studies in higher education

Empirical evidence shows widespread homophobia among university and college students, but also that this can be undermined by the presence of openly gay teachers and courses on gay topics. Such courses recruit well, especially among heterosexual women. Personal experience as a student in school and university, then as an English lecturer and the UK's first professor of gay and lesbian studies, suggests that change, although slow, is evident. However, it is best achieved by holistic approaches to education which take into account the personal identity of the tutor as well as those of students. In particular, the relationship between personal growth and the reading of gay literature needs to be explicitly acknowledged     

Recognition,responsibility, and risk: Pre-service teachers' framing and reframing of lesbian,gay, and bisexual social justice issues

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 teachers bring to their university education that shape their interaction with curricula. Analysis of classroom dialog suggests that pre-service teachers have a more complex understanding of structure and transformation than their nascent language around sexuality allows them to articulate. These optimistic findings lead to proposals for transforming how we teach about sexuality.     

Queer pedagogy,educational practice and lesbian and gay youth

Our article explores the potential that queer paradigms and pedagogies hold for affirming sexual diversity in secondary schools. In understanding the operation of schools as heteronormalising institutions, it is possible to move beyond viewing queer youth as a disenfranchised minority group requiring reparation within an equity framework (a process that we suggest operates simultaneously to legitimate heterosexuality and to reinforce the abnormality of same-sex desire). Using research that we have undertaken with lesbian and gay youth in New Zealand secondary schools, and drawing on queer, post modern and feminist theoretical threads, we explore three (hetero) normalising processes experienced by the queer participants in their schools; the maintenance of silences, the pathologisation of (homo)sexualities, and the policing of gender boundaries. We close by exploring how several queer pedagogical features - creating venues, abnormalising the normal, dissolving the homo/hetero binary and forming alliances - could be used in order to affirm the sexual diversity of secondary school students.     

Teacher discourse on lesbian,gay and bisexual pupils in Scottish schools

This paper reports on a study which surveyed and interviewed teachers on their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) pupils in school. The outcomes indicated that there was a silencing of diverse sexualities in schools. In theory, teachers had adopted an individual liberal humanitarian stance of “we treat all pupils alike”. In practice this had resulted in confusion regarding how to respond to the needs of LGB pupils and a silence on (homo) sexuality. This paper further discusses the implications of the outcomes of this study for the implementation of the government equality agenda in schools in relation to sexual orientation.     

The complexities of workplace experience for lesbian and gay teachers

Discrimination against lesbians and gay men has been endemic throughout Australia’s history. However, in twenty-first century Australian society there are signs of growing sophistication and acceptance of sexual diversities. Despite this, schools continue to be organisations where sexual ‘difference’ is marginalised and silenced, having ramifications on the professional lives of lesbian and gay teachers. This article, based on qualitative research with 14 lesbian and gay teachers working in metropolitan Sydney, explores the ways in which schooling micro-cultures and systemic practices affect participants’ working lives. In particular, it highlights the ways in which these teachers negotiate the complex discursive fields in schools to perform their ‘professional’ teacher subjectivities in ways that are personally functional and effective, and simultaneously organisationally ‘acceptable’ in what has been for lesbian and gay teachers, traditionally hostile workplaces.     

Speaking out: perspectives of gay and lesbian practitioners in outdoor education in the UK

Outdoor education has been shaped historically and culturally by many influences. Physically challenging activities out of doors have been appropriated by a number of traditions. These include militaristic, educational and developmental ideologies. Arguably, central to these ideologies are heterosexual, white middle class values. While women have sought to challenge this and feminist and pro-feminist research is evident, very little research has been undertaken into sexuality in relation to teacher or practitioner perspective and experience. Consequently, gay and lesbian voices within outdoor education are all but silenced. This paper explores the perspectives of three lesbian and four gay men who work in the UK outdoor education ‘industry’.

In-depth interviews were held with the participants exploring a variety of issues relating to their life histories and their experiences of working in a predominantly heterosexist outdoor education culture. This paper focuses upon the ways in which the participants perceived the need to conceal their lesbian and gay identities and the consequential effects of managing their identities.     

School social work and early childhood student's attitudes toward gay and lesbian families

In this discussion paper we seek to challenge prevailing wisdoms in higher education regarding the value of measuring teaching quality, prescribing standards for professionalism and using student satisfaction as an indicator of teaching effectiveness. Drawing on the literature, we explore and probe four wisdoms in an attempt to identify and problematise popular assumptions about teaching and professionalism. We suggest that externalising procedures for assessing quality can be counter-productive to effective teaching and learning and propose core values we see as central to enhancing higher education practice: collegial reflection on practice, consideration of ethical issues and risk-taking.     

The impact of a combined cognitive-affective intervention on pre-service teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and anticipated professional behaviors regarding homosexuality and gay and lesbian issues

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a cognitive-affective intervention the attitudes, knowledge, and anticipated professional behaviors regarding homosexuality and gay and lesbian issues of pre-service teachers in the United States. Sixty-seven participants were randomly assigned either to a control group (n = 34) or an experimental group (n = 33). Pre-test and post-test means were compared using paired-samples t-tests to determine the impact of the intervention. Data analysis revealed significant positive changes in the pre-service teachers’ attitudes and knowledge about homosexuality, as well as their anticipated professional behaviors with respect to homosexual students and their families.     

Coming out as a lesbian,gay or bisexual teacher: negotiating private and professional worlds

This paper examines the ‘coming out’ decisions at work of four lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) teachers in England. It argues that such decisions are complicated by heteronormative discursive practices within schools that render LGB sexualities silent while simultaneously demanding that they are spoken. This double bind for LGB teachers as well as the professional and personal implications of choosing to come out or not to come out within the workplace is examined. The paper demonstrates that three choices dominate participants' experiences of coming out at work: to speak to no one at work about the private world, to come out to colleagues and to come out to colleagues and students. The paper posits, however, that the narrative devices deployed within coming out (at work) stories are limited by linguistic techniques that constrain the telling of sexual selves to the binary categories of straight or gay/lesbian. The possibilities for teachers whose lives and experiences interrupted the dominant heteronormative discourse are also examined.     

Something more to tell you: gay,lesbian or bisexual young people's experiences of secondary schooling

How do young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (lgb) experience secondary schooling? How do they feel that questions of sexuality are dealt with in the curriculum and do they find this treatment helpful? This article presents the findings of a project that replicated Trenchard and Warren's 1984 study, Something to tell you. The findings are analysed and some suggestions are made as to changes in lgb‐identifying people's experiences of schooling from 1984 to 2001. Finally, the article considers these changes in relation to the question of the ‘effect’ of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.     

Perspectives on gender and sexual diversity (GSD)-inclusive education: comparisons between gay/lesbian/bisexual and straight educators

This paper presents findings from a national study on the beliefs and practices of K-12 educators regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues in schools. Over 3400 Canadian educators participated in the study, which took the form of a bilingual (English/French) online survey. Respondents answered questions about their values regarding human rights and LGBTQ-inclusive education, their practices in the classroom, experiences with homophobic and transphobic harassment, and perceptions of support for LGBTQ-inclusive practices. Results indicate that there is a high level of in-principle support for LGBTQ-inclusive education (84.9%); however, actual practice is much lower (61.8%) and there are significant differences in the perspectives and experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual identified educators compared with their straight colleagues in terms of curriculum integration and bullying interventions. Findings offer important insights for teacher preparation, curriculum development, and law and policy implementation and reform.     

Preschool selection considerations and experiences of school mistreatment among lesbian,gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents

The current study is the first to investigate the school selection considerations and school-related experiences of sexual-minority parents with young children. The sample consisted of 210 parents in 105 couples, including 35 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 40 heterosexual couples, all of whom had adopted a child three years earlier. We found that parents with less income were more likely to consider cost in choosing a preschool, and parents with less education were more likely to consider location. More educated parents tended to emphasize racial diversity and the presence of adoptive families, and, among sexual-minority parents, the presence of other lesbian/gay parents. Sexual-minority parents were more likely to consider racial diversity than heterosexual parents. In reporting on their experiences with schools, heterosexual parents were more likely to perceive mistreatment due to their adoptive status than sexual-minority parents, and sexual-minority parents living in less gay-friendly communities were more likely to perceive mistreatment due to their sexual orientation than sexual-minority parents living in more gay-friendly communities. Our findings have implications for early childhood educators and administrators seeking to create an inclusive learning community for all types of families.     

A content analysis of lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender topics in multicultural education textbooks

This research examines the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) topics in 12 popular multicultural education textbooks. Following a line‐by‐line analysis of each textbook, the findings report the extent to which LGBT topics were included in each text and the themes that became apparent in how LGBT topics were treated. The authors conclude with a discussion of the texts’ contents and the suggestion that texts do more to include LGBT topics and provide more complex and complete representations of LGBT identities. This analysis sets a basis for comparison for future studies to gauge how levels of LGBT inclusion have changed both quantitatively and qualitatively.     

Diversity and inclusivity at university: a survey of the experiences of lesbian,gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) students in the UK

The extent to which UK universities are ‘gay friendly’ has received some attention in the press. Whilst there are a number of published studies exploring campus climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) students and/or staff, these are primarily localised studies undertaken in State Universities and Baccalaureate Colleges in the US. The present study is a nationwide UK study of campus climate, based on survey data collected from a sample of 291 LGBT students from 42 universities across the UK. The findings show that despite the increased implementation of an equality agenda (e.g. equal access; widening participation) in UK Higher Education, homophobia on campus is still a significant problem and therefore universities are not perceived nor experienced by LGBT students as ‘safe spaces’ in which to be open about sexual orientation/gender identity. The implications of the findings for university policy and practice in relation to LGBT (and indeed all) students is also explored.