Challenging Heteronormativity: Creating a Safe and Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ Students

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth face hostile and exclusionary learning environments. A qualitative phenomenographic method involving semistructured interviews of seven secondary school administrators was conducted to identify perceptions of experiences creating a safe and inclusive environment for students who identified as LGBTQ. The findings of the study were examined from a conceptual foundation that a heteronormative culture dominates the U.S. school system that perpetuates the marginalizing of nongender conforming students. The three emergent perceptions identified included: (a) providing safe spaces while working to create an inclusive environment; (b) promoting student awareness and acceptance of diversity; and (c) challenging heteronormativity within the context of formal policies and procedures.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 47 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.