Queer Youth and the Culture Wars: From Classroom to Courtroom in Australia, Canada and the United States

Abstract

This article builds on Lugg's (2006) Queer (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or LGBT) youth are challenging the heteronormative cultures in schools as they disclose their sexual orientation at a younger age and with unprecedented regularity (Cloud, 2005;Janofsky , 2005). As the dominant values of these traditionally heteronormative institutions are questioned, schools have become important battlegrounds in the culture wars. Opponents of homosexuality, who have labored to ban same-sex marriage, also promote a heterosexual-based abstinence-only sex education curriculum in schools and thwart local school efforts to promote diversity education and safer school climates. School administrators and teachers, as gender and sexuality police, are expected to enforce conformity to heterosexual gender norms for the students (Lugg, 2006).Many queer youth face discrimination, rejection, and hostility from peers, teachers, and administrators. We use the term "queer youth" to include not only LGBTidentified youth, but also those who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, children of LGBT parents, and heterosexual youth who have been targeted with homophobic harassment in schools or identify as LGBT allies.Introducing the reader to the legal battles with schools that have been led by queer youth in the U.S. and internationally, we examine how they and their allies have challenged and transformed homophobic school environments through legal complaints. We also discuss how the decisions of these court cases have resulted in changes to school policies, teacher training, curricular materials, and extra -curricular activities that will have long-term impacts.We first present a brief overview of the challenges that many youth experience as a result of homophobia in schools and then discuss cases from the United States along with their main legal arguments: Equal Protection, Title IX, the Equal Access Act and state non-discrimination laws. In the third section we present three cases from Canada and Australia; and finally we discuss the significance of these cases for queer youth in schools.

Homosocial intimacy among Australian undergraduate men

“…It appears as though undergraduate men are leading a cultural shift toward diminished homophobia in Australia, thus reflecting the trend reported by Meyer and Stader (2009). While homophobia clearly still exists in Australia, it appears that its centrality to Australian masculinity and culture is diminishing, albeit perhaps slowly.…”

The complexities of workplace experience for lesbian and gay teachers

“…Although resistance to heterosexist discourse in schools is increasing through explicit challenge to discrimination, particularly by LGBTQ students and their allies (Meyer & Stader, 2009), LGBTQ students and teachers variously experience interpersonal and institutional surveillance, discrimination and marginalisation (Baitz, 2006;Ferfolja, 2008Ferfolja, , 2009Hillier et al, 2010;Hohnke & O'Brien, 2008;Rudoe, 2010). Furthermore, research demonstrates how many lesbian and gay-identified teachers have felt compelled to hide their sexuality for fear of discrimination, dismissal, school and/or broader community rejection, and limitations on career options and trajectories (Ferfolja, 2008(Ferfolja, , 2009Griffin, 1991;Hohnke & O'Brien, 2008;Rudoe, 2010).…”

Sexual diversity, discrimination and ‘homosexuality policy’ in New South Wales' government schools

“…In fact, young people who are constructed as victims in this policy are increasingly challenging the heteronormativity of schooling practices and approaches through legal channels, particularly in the USA and to a lesser extent in Canada and Australia (see Kendall and Sidebotham 2004;Meyer and Stader 2009). These challenges range from seeking compensation for harassment, discrimination and abuse, through to resisting and confronting school administrations who decree that 'prom dates' must be of the opposite sex.…”

“…These challenges range from seeking compensation for harassment, discrimination and abuse, through to resisting and confronting school administrations who decree that 'prom dates' must be of the opposite sex. These young people illustrate how fixed sexual categories are constructed and expose them for their limitations, at times resulting in changes to policy and curricula (Meyer and Stader 2009). They understand that sexuality is in fact fluid, dynamic and variable: there is no singular 'correct' way (Marshall 2010, 81;Talburt 2010).…”