LGBT Childrens

Literature

What is heterosexism? What are

its effects?

Heterosexism: the feeling or belief that

people who are non-heterosexual are (or
should be) invisible and unimportant
(Herman-Wilmarth, 2007).

The role of ignorance

Many teachers are unaware that there are
elementary children who view themselves as
LGBT; teachers may also believe there are
relatively few children who have LGBT parents,
and so they do not attend to either population
(Young, p. 217).

European Conference on Educational

Research 2005

Nearly half of
Americas teachers
may not receive any
information on sexual
orientation and/or LGBT
families during their
preservice training (p.
218).

Identifying our own biases

When faced with verbal abuse,
unfortunately, LGBT-parented
youth find little support from
school personnel; in fact, 39%
report hearing teachers and staff
themselves making homophobic
remarks (Young, p. 218).

Bernardo: I came to a better

understanding that people who
do not understand or are
intolerant of LGBT people are
also people.

Jennings and Sherwin 2008

When school environments allow LGBT children and
families to go unacknowledged or be harassed, they
validate school cultures that teach that some people
are worth less and are acceptable targets for
discrimination, harassment, and violence (p. 262).

Gay, Straight, and Lesbian

Education Network 2015

Why are teachers and parents

so afraid?
They simply do
not believe, or
cannot conceive,
that such topics
belong in
elementary
schools.

Discomfort
regarding frank
discussions with
their students and
subsequent student
questions

Magana: I think its all

about parents worries
about how much
influence they have
over their childrens
awareness versus the
influence of the school

fear of legal
and
professional
ramifications

Apprehension
regarding
perceptions of their
own sexual identities
and/or their
knowledge regarding
the topic

p.
218

Not just talking, HOW we

Magana: I think if such
talk topics are discussed in
Macgillivray and Jennings
(2008) indicated that placing
LGBT content under particular
headings or in particular lists
can pathologize LGBT
identities (219).

Examples:
1. Galda et al (2010) addressed
sexual orientation as a Current
Issue in Realistic Fiction (A
note: LGBT individuals may not
wish to be conceptualized as
an issue among subtopics that
include drugs and violence)
(p. 121).
2. In definitions of
multiculturalism, LGBT always
paired with disabled...? (second
column on p. 220)

schools, there needs to be

a strong focus on
vocabulary. A gay or
lesbian student should not
be subjected to being
called or referred to by
ugly and hurtful names,
and students who
respectfully disagree with
the themes raised in LGBT
lit should not
automatically be labeled
homophobic, closeminded or told that they
are wrong for dissenting
because they themselves
are benefactors of
previous social

Teacher Responsibility/Duty
Anyone who writes a
childrens literature
textbook, anyone who
prepares future teachers,
anyone who teaches
elementary school must be
aware that schooling is
about all of Americas
children: we must ensure
that all children can find
themselves and their
families in the books
available to them (p.
223).

Mary-Lloyd: I am
advocating for
realistic portrayals of
diverse lifestyles and
diverse characters to
make all young
readers feel safe.

Alistair: As future
educators we are
invariably placed in
positions where our
actions and speech,
whether explicit or
implicit, send a message
to our students on what is
normalized and how to
perceive the world.

The kinds of teachers we want to be

Suzannah: Sometimes I get so
caught up in trying to prove myself
as an intellectual in my identify as
a teacher, that I forget that I'm not
just performing a task for a job I'm helping children grow into
people.
Suzannah: But I would like to think
that the environment I create in my
classroom will ALLOW children to
explore every part of themselves and
the world around them.

Bernardo: I
truly
believe that
a lack of
understandi
ng drives
intolerance
and hate.

What classrooms SHOULD

look like
Alistair quoting John Dewey: I
believe that the school must
represent present life- life as real and
vital to the child as that which he
carries on in the home, in the
neighborhood, or on the
playground.
Alistair: What does this look like for
our students who are afraid to have a
voice as it relates to the inclusion of

Current Setbacks
Reading and becoming readers of LGBT-themed
literature in classrooms may be limited by the
very context of school (p. 150).
The homophobic and heterosexist institution of
schooling shapes and limits how readers are
defined by others and by themselves (p. 153).
Mary-Lloyd: Students are addressed by text,
teacher, or institution as presumably straight and
often aggressively homophobic (p. 151).
Bernardo: They spoke of them purely as other and as
dangerous, rather than seeing them, as well, people. For many,
their feelings came from a deep-seeded instinct of protection for
their children. They have been taught by media (presumably
their own exposure) to fear.

Why what were doing now isnt

working
Homophobic disguise in order to participate
Allowed choice of not engaging if felt uncomfortable

Alistair: students were empowered to maintain a

homophobic position (p. 151).

Disguise LGBT themes, instead focus on form

Readings of LGBT-themed literature typically occur
behind the closed door of a classroom (p. 152).
Singular event
Only used for didactic purposes, rather than
entertainment, pleasure, or humor

Consequences
By exposing students to LGBTthemed literature in schools
without an end goal of actively
combating homophobia and
heterosexism, teachers fail to
hold themselves and their
students accountable for the
injustices and inequities
experienced by LGBT youth
(p. 153).
Leaving their beliefs
unchallenged, teachers tacitly
affirm and even promote
heterosexism and homophobia
in schools (p. 153).

Suggestions
Widen the range of reading positions that are
offered to and/or assumed by young readers
(p. 161).
Making space for these many reading
positions enabled the diversity of readers to
enter the discussion and expand the work that
could be done with and through texts (p. 161)
Text selection
Time spent with LGBT-themed texts
Use of text to see into another world and/or
reflect on ones own (p. 161).

Magana: As the law professor

Stephen L. Carter argues, there is
never enough civility in our public
discourse

Teacher Applications
Adults doing this work must be critically selfaware and self-reflective about their own
attitudes and deeply held assumptions around
sexuality and gender identity (p. 162).

Mary-Lloyd: Teachers and other adults will

need to be clear and assertive in making their
workplaces safer for participants to assume a
range of reading positions (p. 161).
Suzannah: And we ask ourselves, who gets to
feel safe as a reader at school? We want to say
everyone, but in order to do that we need to believe
in the true definition of everyone.

Next Steps
Mary-Lloyd: We have come to appreciate
the importance of collaboratively selecting
and creating diverse literature, not only to
connect with curriculum, but primarily to
experience pleasure and ultimately to
pursue explicitly named political action
(p. 161).

Bernardo: I dont think that we as

teachers can allow people to continue to
hide from the realities of the world around
them. That being said, we need to be
respectful and aware of where they are
when they come into our care.

The T in LGBT: where is transgender

childrens literature?

Additional Resources
Documentary: Its Still Elementary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV_YYc7G4Iw

CCBC website: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbs

Inclusive book of the week recommendations
Patricia Austin (2010): Book Links
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network: www.glsen.org
Im Here. Im Queer. What the hell do I read?
http://www.leewind.org/
Goodreads: LGBT Childrens Literature Booklist
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15355.LGBTQ_Childre
n_s_Literature