Education Commons^™

Queer Youth In Heterosexist Schools: Isolation, Prejudice And No Clear Supportive Policy, Olivia Jo Murray

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the wake of institutionalized homophobia afflicting public schools, the nation faces a unique opportunity to acknowledge and transform the assumption that all people are or should be heterosexual and gender-conforming. In this article, the author examines how people, as a nation, can reform schools to be more inclusive of diverse student identities, such as queer, by transforming educational policy to include the voices of marginalized youth. She begins by first describing federal legislation that excludes the protection of queer youth, subjecting millions of children to exploitation, humiliation, and condemnation within classrooms across the nation. Then, drawing from bell hooks …