Research addressing the lives and friendships of older Black lesbians is virtually nonexistent. Using narrative analysis, we chronicle the lives of two older Black lesbians (73 and 85 years of age) through the lens of positive marginality. The concept of positive marginality asserts that living both inside and outside of the mainstream produces…

In this article, I explore issues of sexuality and reflexivity in language education research practices by revisiting a section of an interview between myself as researcher and a student research participant. The research interview was from a larger ethnographic study on cultural identities in a second language program, and the student was a…

This article recounts my search for a context-appropriate way of exploring gender and sexuality issues in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. The first half of the article explains why and how I sought a pedagogic strategy that would be educationally effective, institutionally viable, and culturally appropriate-in my case, for EFL…

Same-sex marriage, barely on the political radar a decade ago, is a reality in America. How will it affect the well-being of children? Some observers worry that legalizing same-sex marriage would send the message that same-sex parenting and opposite-sex parenting are interchangeable, when in fact they may lead to different outcomes for children.…

During the past ten years, attention on bullying has intensified among educators, parents, journalists, and educational researchers in the wake of high-profile incidents of bullying in some Canadian schools. Safe schools policies and programs have proliferated as a result. However, the issue of homophobia-a pervasive form of bullying-tends to be…

This paper examines the interplay between gender and sexuality. In particular, it looks at some reasons why mainstream society cannot bear homosexuality, or any expression of resistance to heteronormativity. The paper also considers what makes schools particularly hostile to teaching or tolerating deviance from set notions of essentialized and…

Although there is much debate about the positive effects of active sporting pursuits for the young, in reality many young people are still excluded or deterred from taking part as much as they would like. There are still particular bodily performances which are considered more suitable for taking part in mainstream sport, and invariably one of the…

This qualitative study combined descriptive written instruments and focus group data to investigate heterosexual college students' current attitudes toward gay and lesbian peers, a distinctly at-risk population. Overall, participants were generally supportive, but participants felt public pressure to hide or shield the support they felt for gay…

This paper explores the potential for peer-based anti-oppression education groups to achieve social change, considers the conditions that make their work possible and introduces several critical questions and issues raised by such efforts. I have drawn upon my involvement in my former high school's Rainbow Alliance, as well as in two Toronto…

In this essay, the author first describes the cultural ethos of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario (FWTAO), with its primary commitment to the never-married teacher. She then traces the declining status of the single, female teacher in the postwar period. Coupled with this decline is an emphasis placed on the importance of…

The purpose of the report is to inform students, parents, school personnel, and officials of the legal issues related to harassment, bullying, and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. This report describes existing research on the current school climate for LGBT youth as well as the harmful effects of…

While recent research explores the determinants of homophobia among college students, only a few studies look at the perceptions of homosexuals among social work students. Unfortunately these rare studies generally present a modest list of predictor variables or small sample sizes. To address this gap, this research explores the ways in which…

Objective: Although a variety of sexual assault prevention programs are currently available to college health professionals, there is a dearth of information about the effect of these programs on sexual assault victimization rates. Participants: The authors evaluated the efficacy of a sexual assault prevention program for first-year students at a…

Gender is a ubiquitous social construct that wields power over every individual in our society. The traditional dichotomous gender paradigm is oppressive, especially for transgendered people whose sense of themselves as gendered people is incongruent with the gender they were assigned at birth. Transgendered individuals are targeted for…

For 20 years, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) has worked to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. For 10 of those years, GLSEN has been documenting the school experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth: the prevalence of anti-LGBT…